Kenya, 1982 — military coup attempt

Event Summary

On 1 August 1982 junior members of the Kenya Air Force attempted a coup against President Daniel arap Moi, the most serious challenge to his rule since he had succeeded Jomo Kenyatta in 1978. Led by Senior Private Hezekiah Ochuka and calling themselves the People's Redemption Council, the rebels struck in the pre-dawn hours, seizing the Eastleigh and Embakasi air bases outside Nairobi and capturing the Voice of Kenya radio station, from which they broadcast that the military had overthrown the government. But the coup was poorly organized and led by low ranking airmen without the command experience to consolidate; many rebels fell to looting and drinking rather than securing their objectives.

Loyal army units and the paramilitary General Service Unit, coordinated by senior officers including Major General Mahamoud Mohamed, counterattacked, retook the radio station, and crushed the rising by evening. Moi was restored, over two hundred people died, and in the aftermath the entire Kenya Air Force was disbanded and rebuilt, with Ochuka fleeing to Tanzania before being extradited, tried, and hanged.