Decision-making in times of crisis: The 1982 coup attempt

Senior Private Hezekiah Ochuka appears in court to answer treason charges. [File, Standard]

Anniversaries of unpleasant events are times of reflection and learning from mistakes inherent to decision-making. Security related colleges and research universities study decision-making as an aspect of national security preparedness. Kenya had one of those nasty experiences in the August 1, 1982 attempted coup which is a classic study of systemic failure in decision-making.

The challenge is not unique to Kenya since every country has had to deal with post -fact crisis analysis. Americans have had several crises, the 1962 Cuban one being the best known. It showed that when issues outside the routine come up, the commonsense level of the operators become the issue. Wrongly handled, policy makers decide badly.