1. The plan

2. Why the coup failed

3. Aftermath

4. References

5. Further reading

6. External links

The 1982 Kenyan coup d'état attempt was a failed attempt to overthrow President Daniel arap Moi's government. At 3 A.M. on Aug. Sunday, 1 August 1982, a group of soldiers from the Kenya Air Force took over Eastleigh Air Base just outside Nairobi, and by 4 A.M. the nearby Embakasi air base had also fallen. At 6 A.M. Senior Private Hezekiah Ochuka and Sergeant Pancras Oteyo Okumu captured the Voice of Kenya radio station in central Nairobi where they broadcast in English and Swahili that the military had overthrown the government.^[1] Working at the behest of Ochuka, Corporal Bramwel Injeni Njereman was leading a plot to bomb the State House and the General Service Unit headquarters from the Laikipia Air Base, Nanyuki.^[2] Corporal Njereman commandeered three pilots, namely Major David Mutua, Captain John Mugwanja and Captain John Baraza to fly two F-5E Tiger jets and a Strikemaster that would be used for the mission.^[3] However, Major Mutua was aware that Corporal Njereman had never flown a jet fighter before and would likely not be able to cope with the g-forces. The pilots, while communicating on a secret channel, agreed to execute daring manoeuvres to disorient their captor.^[3] The trick worked. The pilots dumped the bombs in Mt. Kenya forest and headed back to Nanyuki.^[4]

The coup was strategically planned to coincide with the war games taking place in Lodwar, a remote town in Kenya, when most of the army units and the senior leadership were away from Nairobi.^[5] It was therefore upon the senior-most officers present at the time to plan a counter-attack. The officers were Lieutenant General John Sawe who was Army Commander as well as Deputy Chief of the General Staff, his deputy in the Army, Major General Mahmoud Mohammed, the Chief of Operations at Defence Headquarters Brigadier Bernard Kiilu and Major Humphrey Njoroge, a staff officer in charge of training at Army Headquarters.^[6] In the meeting, it was agreed that Mahamoud Mohamed would take charge of operation. Mahamoud assembled a team of about 30 officers from First Kenya Rifles Battalion and Kahawa barracks. The team stormed the broadcasting station and killed or captured the rebel soldiers inside. Leonard Mambo Mbotela, a broadcaster who had earlier been captured by Ochuka ^[8] to announce the coup went on air to report that the rebels had been defeated and Moi was back in power.^[4] With the help of the General Service Unit (GSU) and later the regular police, Mahamoud managed to take control of the city causing the Air Force rebels to flee.

The plan

Ochuka had become obsessed with becoming the President of Kenya at one time in his lifetime.^[8] He had the words "The next president of Kenya" carved on his desk and this led him to quickly accept a proposal by Obuon and Oteyo to overthrow the government which was being led by Daniel arap Moi.

He went ahead to recruit some soldiers from his base at Embakasi and this included those who ranked higher than him.^[8] There was a heated debate of who would become the chairman of the People Redemption Council (PRC) so that he would assume the presidency position after the coup. In his part, Obuon claimed that he had recruited the largest number of soldiers into the plan and so he warranted the chairmanship. Obuon also added the fact that he had served as the chairman of the Airmen's mess. Ochuka had threatened that all soldiers he had recruited would quit the plan if he was not selected as the chairman. Obuon and Ochuka had a heated debate that almost broke into a fight over the chairmanship until Oteyo intercepted and advised Obuon to leave the chairmanship to Ochuka, whom they would kill after the successful coup.^[8] Ochuka may have suspected the plot of Obuon and Oteyo. He rallied support from soldiers to him as an individual and he went further to build a protective wall around him. He also rallied support from Obuon's old political friend and it is believed that the old friend even gave him two million shillings and a second hand car. He had also managed to steal some military communication equipment which he had set up at a private house in Nairobi which was located a few kilometres from the city center.

In late July 1982, Ochuka held a secret meeting at football grounds near Umoja estate, and details of how the coup was to be executed were discussed. During this meeting, Ochuka told the attendees that he had the support of Uganda, Tanzania and Sudan who would send their soldiers to the borders to counter any opposition. He went further to allege that he had the blessings of Russia who would send a Soviet ship to the Kenyan coast to guard against any external interference. Ochuka had made up all these stories to convince his recruits to take up the risk in the mission.^[8]

Details of the impending coup were known by senior military officials.^[6] James Kanyotu, the Directorate of the Kenya Security Intelligence had infiltrated the military and was also aware of the coup plot.^[9][10] After the opening ceremonies of the Nyeri ASK Show on Friday, July 30, Kanyotu asked President Moi to give him permission to arrest the officers who were planning the coup. However, President Moi was not willing to involve the police in military matters. He preferred the matter to be dealt with internally by the military on Monday, August 2. However, the coup happened on Sunday, August 1 before any action could be taken.^[6]

Why the coup failed

Oteyo said that the coup failed because most of the soldiers did not execute their parts of the plan since most of the soldiers were drunk and looting instead of going to arrest the president and his ministers. The coup leader, Ochuka had gone to fetch a radio presenter, Leonard Mambo Mbotela.^[8] The poor organisation left the rebels unprepared for a counter-attack. They failed to capture or kill any of the political leaders they had targeted and did not seize army headquarters.^[11] The air force rebels also lacked support from the army which left them with no armor or heavy arms to take and hold key installations.^[12]

Aftermath

The coup left more than 100 soldiers and perhaps 200 civilians dead, including several non-Kenyans.^[10][13]

After the failed coup, the organizers were arrested and tried at the martial courts in the Kenya Army Langata Barracks. Corporal Bramwel Injeni Njereman, who was an armaments technician, was the second to be convicted of treason on 24 November 1984.^[2] He was found guilty of five overt acts and sentenced to death by being hanged.^[3] Corporal Walter Odira Ojode was the first to be charged with the same offence, on 16 December 1982, of which he was found guilty; he also received the death penalty. Both appealed their cases and lost. The death sentences were executed on the night of 10 July 1985 at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison together with coup mastermind Hezekiah Ochuka and his counterpart Pancras Oteyo Okumu. Up to date they are the last people to be executed under the death penalty under Kenyan law. After the coup attempt, the entire Kenya Air Force was disbanded. In the end, a total of twelve people had been sentenced to death, and over 900 were jailed. The convicts who were hanged were buried at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison.

During the court trials, the name of Oginga Odinga was mentioned several times as having financed the organizers and he was put under house arrest. His son Raila Odinga together with other university lecturers were sent to detention after being charged for treason.^[14]

The coup attempt was also a direct cause for the snap elections in 1983.

In response to alleged campus involvement in the failed coup, the Kenyan government accused external communist sources of secretly funding the coup attempt.^[15]

References

Further reading

• {{cite news |title= 145 Were Killed in Kenyan Uprising|url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9804EED91139F932A2575BC0A964948260&n=Top%2fNews%2fWorld%2fCountries%20and%20Territories%2fKenya |work= NYTimes.com|publisher= The New York Times Company|date=11 August 1982|accessdate=2007-04-25 }}
• {{cite news |title=Kenya Disbands its Air Force after Coup Bid |url= http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70B11F7345D0C718EDDA10894DA484D81&n=Top%2fNews%2fWorld%2fCountries%20and%20Territories%2fKenya|work= NYTimes.com|publisher= The New York Times Company|date=22 August 1982|accessdate=2007-04-25 }}
• {{cite book |last=Diangá |first=James |title=Kenya 1982: The Attempted Coup: The Consequence of a One-Party Dictatorship |location=London |publisher=Pen Press |year=2002 |isbn=1-904018-20-3 }}

External links

• {{YouTube|yscEH2BMPr0|Audio of contemporary rebel broadcast on VOK during coup d'etat, 1982}}.

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