1982 Kenyan coup d'état attempt

The 1982 Kenyan coup d'état attempt was a failed attempt to overthrow President Daniel arap Moi's government. At midnight on Sunday, 1 August 1982, a group of soldiers from the Kenya Air Force took over the radio station Voice of Kenya and announced that they had overthrown the government. The group tried to force a group of Air Force fighter pilots to bomb the State House at gunpoint. The pilots pretended to follow orders on the ground but once airborne they ignored them (confusing a member the coup group in one of the plans) and instead dropped the bombs over Mount Kenya's forests.

Hezekiah Ochuka, a Senior Private Grade-I (the second lowest rank in the Kenyan military), ruled Kenya for about six hours before escaping to Tanzania. After being extradited back to Kenya, he was tried and found guilty of leading the coup attempt and hanged in 1987. Also implicated in the coup attempt was Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, a former Vice-President to Jomo Kenyatta, and his son Raila Amolo Odinga. The putsch was quickly suppressed by forces commanded by Chief of General Staff Mahamoud Mohamed, a veteran Somali military official. They included the General Service Unit (GSU) — a paramilitary wing of the police — and later the regular police.

Ochuka had become obsessed with becoming the President of Kenya at one time in his lifetime. 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 Moi.

He went ahead to recruit some soldiers from his base at Embakasi and this included those who ranked higher than him. 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. 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.

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