How group’s plot to throw Kenya into anarchy flopped

The Late Hezekiah Ochuka a suspect of coup attempt in august 1982.

When the sound of heavy artillery and ruthless military boots violated the serenity of the city in the wee hours of Sunday, August 1, 1982, big men did strange things. After all, in these posh estates even mundane taxi honks were frowned upon.

Further away other crowded estates in the city and sleepy villages more than 200km away, some terrified military top brass quaked in their boots as they sheltered in bushes, strategising how to confront the unfolding insanity before it degenerated into anarchy. 

Hours earlier, in downtown Nairobi, bands of young men were going from bar to bar advising patrons to gulp down their drinks before mid-night and go home.

When he heard the intermittent sound of heavy artillery from his palatial home in Karen, Nairobi, John Keen, who was at the time an assistant minister in State House was very worried. He had earlier received intelligence reports of the coup plot by virtue of his office. Keen consequently advised his boss, President Moi not to travel to Libya where he was scheduled to take over the leadership of Organisation of African Unity.

Keen’s worst nightmare was confirmed by the announcement by state radio that the military had toppled over the government. MPs had been advised to stay at home and await arrest. All prisoners were to be freed.

Fled to the bush

When his call to Ben Gethi the head of General Service Unit to send him a Land Rover and some armed troops to his residence was ignored. He realised he was in serious trouble.

“Fearing that the coup leaders would be coming for him, he sent wives and children to their farm building, ordering them to stay there even if they heard some shooting. He then armed himself with a pistol and drove to Karen Police Station.”

Another politician, Philip Leakey who lived near Nairobi National Park also took his rifle, a blanket and some supplies and fled to the bush.

According to Andrew Morton, Charles Njonjo, the powerful constitutional minister was also in distress after an aircraft dropped some bomb near his neighbors compound which he believed was meant for him. “I feared for my life. Bombs dropped from an aeroplane near my home. I was certainly a target. That’s what made me so furious that I had anything to do with the coup,” Njonjo is quoted by Morton.

As this was taking place, a major whirlwind was sweeping in Nakuru town where two brothers, Elijah Sumbeiywo, the Commandant of the Presidential Escort and Lazurus Sumbeiywo, who was an army major were driving to Kabarak to pick the Head of State. The escort commander was in Nakuru State House while his brother was in town. The time was 3.15 pm.

They were armed to teeth even as they raced in a civilian car to Kabarak, trying to make sense of what was happening. Word was the army had taken over the government and now they were hurrying to the “toppled” man where they would have a daunting task convincing their commander in chief that he needed to take cover as he was in grave danger.

Back in Nairobi there was was in turmoil and events were unfolding at a supersonic speed. A command Post had been established in an apartment in Langata where communication equipment were stored. The coup had been timed to start in Embakasi by the elite Kenya Air force where an armourer had agreed to supply the rebel soldiers with arms.

The first shots were fired at Embakasi barracks when the rebels soldiers, led by Opwapo Ogai, bombed the communication line between the base and military headquarters, but when they tried to exit, they were confronted by the sentries. The ensuing fighting caught the attention of the police who in turn informed the military headquarters.

This alert ruined the plot even as Ochuka and his soldiers took over some installations, Voice of Kenya, the state broadcaster, and announced that the People’s Redemption Council, whose chairman was Ochuka had taken over the government. However the army and other security agents loyal to the government countered the mutineers.

In Nakuru, the Sumbeiywo brothers fetched the President from his home and for some time agonised whether to head to the nearest border or remain in the country.  Morton recounts how at some point the Head of State dissuaded his men from sacrificing their lives for his sake, reminding them they had children.

The escort commander evacuated the Head of State away from Kabarak to a secluded location and left, only to return about an hour later accompanied by the then Rift Valley Commissioner, Hezekiah Oyugi who swore he was ready to die defending his boss. Sumbeiywo is reported to have started the journey to Eldoret from where he hoped to fly Moi out of the country. However, when he received news that loyal soldiers had recaptured the city, he retreated to Kabarak .

Later, the President was escorted back to the city by about 100 men and two armoured cars under the command of Maj Gen Musomba. The coup had failed and Kenyans, as Morton concluded, had just peeped at the periphery of a dark abyss and did not like what they saw.

Although the coup attempt was made 36 years go, there are vital lessons for Kenyans from the  fiasco which led to the death of 152 people, mainly civilians and cost the city about Sh152 million and ushered in a new purge. Former Runyenje’s MP, Njeru Kathangu, who was also incarcerated for two weeks over suspicions that he too had participated in the coup says the biggest lesson was that a country cannot develop in anarchy.

“Before you resort to use of force you must ask yourself about the consequences. This was the second time the military had tried to intervene and the consequences were not pleasant. The first attempt was in 1971, which also aborted.”