Global Information1982 Kenyan coup attempt information
| 1982 Kenyan coup d'état attempt | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Cold War | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Government of KenyaSupported by:  Tanzania Uganda United Kingdom |
Rebels Supported by:  North Korea Soviet Union Cuba East Germany[1] | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Daniel arap Moi Jackson Mulinge Mahamoud Mohamed |
Hezekiah Ochuka Pancras Oteyo Okumu Bramwel Injeni Njereman | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 129 [2] | |||||||
| History of Kenya |
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 Kenya portal |
The 1982 Kenyan coup d'état attempt was a failed attempt to overthrow President Daniel arap Moi's government. At 3 A.M. on 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, from where they then broadcast in English and Swahili that the military had overthrown the government.[3] 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.[4] Corporal Njereman forced three pilots (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.[5] 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.[5] The trick worked. The pilots dumped the bombs in Mt. Kenya forest and headed back to Nanyuki.[6]
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.[7] This meant that the senior-most officers present at the time were Lieutenant General John Sawe (the Army Commander and Deputy Chief of the General Staff), Major General Mahamoud Mohamed (Sawe's deputy), Brigadier Bernard Kiilu (Chief of Operations at Defence Headquarters), and Major Humphrey Njoroge (a staff officer in charge of training at Army Headquarters).[8] At a meeting of the four, it was agreed that Mohamed would take charge of the operation to suppress the coup. He then 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 Mbotela, a broadcaster who had earlier been captured by Ochuka[9] to announce the coup went on air to report that the rebels had been defeated and Moi was back in power.[6] With the help of the General Service Unit (GSU) and later the regular police, Mohamed gained control of Nairobi, causing the Air Force rebels to flee.
Hezekiah Ochuka, whose rank of Senior Private Grade-I was the second lowest rank in the Kenyan military, claimed to rule Kenya for about six hours, before fleeing to Tanzania. After being extradited back to Kenya, he was tried and found guilty of leading the coup attempt, and was hanged in 1987.[5] Also implicated in the coup attempt were Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, a former vice-president to Jomo Kenyatta (Moi's predecessor), and his son Raila Amolo Odinga.[10]
- ^ Jim Bailey; Garth Bundeh. Kenya: The National Epic. East African Publishers; 1993 - p. 269.
- ^ Mitchell, Charles (5 August 1982). "Kenya president says 129 killed in coup attempt". UPI. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ Cowell, Allan (29 August 1982). "LEADER OF KENYAN COUP ATTEMPT SAID TO HAVE BEEN A PRIVATE". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ "Military sentences coup plotter to death". UPI. 24 November 1982. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ a b c Gachuhi, Roy (11 December 2009). "How heroic trio of fighter pilots scuttled mission to bomb State House and GSU". nation.co.ke. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
- ^ a b Ngotho, Kamau (29 July 2002). "The day the devil came down". Daily Nation.
- ^ "PRESIDENT OF KENYA ANNOUNCES CRUSHING OF ATTEMPTED COUP". The New York Times. 2 August 1982. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ Gachuhi, Roy (20 July 2010). "Untold story: Night meeting that saved Moi presidency". Daily Nation. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
BaileyBundeh1993was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Intrigues that led to collapse of power plot". 2 August 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2018.