The events of the August 1, 1982 coup still linger in the minds of those who were present during the awful 6 hours of military rule.
On Sunday, August 1, 1982, around midnight, a group of Kenya Air Force personnel took control of the radio station Voice of Kenya and said that they had deposed the government.
It all began barely a month earlier. Hezekiah Ochuka, a Senior Private Grade-I (the second-lowest rank in the Kenyan military) developed an obsession with becoming the president of Kenya.
Peers say he had engraved the words “The Next President of Kenya” on his desk, which made him immediately agree to Obuon and Oteyo’s plan to overthrow the then president Daniel Arap Moi’s administration.
He continued by enlisting some soldiers from his base in Embakasi, including those who were higher placed than him.
Together, the group formed the People Redemption Council (PRC) which would oversee the take over of Moi’s government. But to whom should become President, the group greatly differed.
Obuon claimed that he deserved the chairmanship since he had attracted the most soldiers to the idea.
Obuon also mentioned that he had previously led the Airmen’s mess. If he was not chosen as the chairman, Ochuka had threatened to have all the men he had recruited leave the plot.
External Forces At Play
Ochuka organized a secret meeting in late July 1982 near the Umoja estate, to discuss the execution of the plan.
He informed the audience at this meeting that Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda were behind him and would send military to the borders to quell any protests.
He added that Russia had endorsed him and was sending a Soviet ship to the Kenyan coast to protect against any outside meddling.
However, all these were found to have been lies to get the Airforce soldiers to support his bid. Nonetheless, like soldiers they were, they accepted the authencity of the plot and assured victory.
The coup was deliberately timed to occur while the majority of the army units were away from Nairobi for the war simulations being held in the outlying town of Lodwar, Kenya.
Six Hours of Agony and Confusion
At the crack of dawn on August 1, 1982, Ochuka frogmarched Leonard Mambo Mbotela from his Ngara house to the Voice of Kenya media station.
“Mimi ni Leonard Mambo Mbotela wananchi mnaombwa mkae nyumbani mtulie, serikali ya Moi imepinduliwa. Polisi wote sasa ni raia,” he announces.
Moments after the announcement, Mambo Mbotela said the city of Nairobi turned into a battle field as Airforce rebels unleashed terror on citizens and any opposition.
Ochuka then asked Mambo Mbotela to rally citizens to join in the struggle to liberate Kenya from Moi oppression.
Meanwhile, rebel forces raided the University of Nairobi, and asked them to join them on their mission.
The Disorganization
According to Oteyo, the coup failed because the majority of the soldiers were too preoccupied looting instead of going to arrest the president and his ministers.
The organization attempted to use force to order a squadron of Air Force fighter pilots to bomb the State House.
But while on the ground, the pilots pretended to execute the orders, but once in the air, they disobeyed them and dropped the bombs over Mount Kenya forest before returning back to base.
Furthermore, the rebels were not prepared for a counterattack. They failed to seize the army headquarters or kill any of the political figures they had targeted.
This made them vulnerable since they didnot have enough amory nor support to sustain the attack.
The Army and Moi Comeback
Prior to the attack, The Directorate of Kenyan Security Intelligence, led by James Kanyotu, had snuck into the military and was informed of the coup attempt.
On Friday, July 30, after the Nyeri ASK Show’s opening ceremonies, Kanyotu requested authorization from President Moi to detain the officers involved in the coup. But President Moi resisted involving the police in military affairs.
However, before any action could be done, a coup took place on Sunday, August 1.
A group of armymen drawn from Lang’ata barracks led by Lt Gen John Sawe, who was Army Commander as well as Deputy Chief of the General Staff, his deputy in the Army, Maj Gen Mahmoud Mohammed, the Chief of Operations at Defence Headquarters Brig Bernard Kiilu and Maj Humphrey Njoroge disguised as Memorial hospital officers surveyed the heavily guarded VOK offices.
The group then drove to Kahawa barracks, the 1KR headquarters to count their chances of success in taking back the Nyayo government.
After a meeting with the soldiers, the troops drove back to Museum Hill, where the onslaught began. At this time, 6.30 am, a section of the rebel soldiers were partying with Nairobi University campus students leaving their defences vulnerable.
The rebel soldiers were at first confused at who was firing at them since they knew the army was out of town. They thought it was the GSU.
The brave soldiers then fought their way into the VOK offices to find a shivering Mambo Mbotela. The army troops identified themselves and asked the journalist to announce that Moi had taken back control of the country.
This announcement, sent rebel soldiers fleeing as they knew the army was back in town and they would be outnumbered.
The army then destroyed telecommunications equipment at the Kenya Airforce base in Nairobi, completely killing their cordination.
Moi was brought to town in an armoured convoy from Kabarak led by Maj Gen Musomba, to announce to Kenyans that he was back as President.
The Aftermath
Over 200 civillians were killed in the melee, with a number of them from the University of Nairobi. All the Airforce soldiers were arrested and sent to prisons for questioning and torture.
Ochuka, who had fled to Tanzania, was deported and handed over to the Kenyan government for treason.
Jaramogi Oginga Odinga was put under house arrest for an alleged role in financing the takeover. His son former Prime Minister Raila Odinga was also put in detention over charges of treason.
President Moi then made changes to military leadership effectively disbanding the Kenya Airforce.
Following that, Moi, whose government was already rather oppressive, began a crackdown on opposition that eventually transformed Kenya into a police state.
The coup attempt was also a direct cause for the snap 1983 general election.
In response to alleged campus involvement in the failed coup, the Kenyan government accused external communist sources of secretly funding the coup attempt.
