Hezekiah ochuka burial

Hezekiah ochuka hanged
Was raila involved in 1982 coup
Hezekiah ochuka children

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1982 Kenyan coup attempt

Failed coup against President Daniel arap Moi

The 1982 Kenyan coup attempt was a failed attempt to overthrow PresidentDaniel arap Moi's government on 1 August. Led by Kenya Air Force private Hezekiah Ochuka, the coup saw the rebels seize several air bases as well as the headquarters of state radio before they were retaken by government forces, resulting in the coup's failure. After being extradited back to Kenya from Tanzania, Ochuka was tried and found guilty of leading the coup attempt, and was hanged in 1987.^[3] 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.^[4]

Planning

Ochuka had become obsessed with becoming the President of Kenya at one time in his lifetime^[5] (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 Moi's government. He recruited some of the soldiers at his base at Embakasi, including those

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A legacy of uncertainty: The unresolved fate of Kenya’s six-hour president

In the quiet village of Nyakach Koguta in Kisumu County lies the modest homestead of Hezekiah Ochuka Rabala, also known as Awuor Onani. Once a Senior Private in the Kenya Air Force, Ochuka is believed to have led Kenya as president for a mere six hours during an attempted coup that still stirs controversy 37 years later.

The atmosphere in this secluded compound is a mix of calm and tension, as questions linger about the fate of those involved in the coup.

Ochuka’s cousin, Robert Akuro, sits in the homestead surrounded by unused bricks and a mud-thatched house. With a sombre expression, he recalls the story of the soldier who dared to challenge the late President Daniel Moi’s regime.

Akuro’s face darkens as he tries to piece together the events of that fateful day. He remembers August 1, 1982, the day of the attempted coup, vividly.

"It was a Sunday morning," he begins, "we were on the farm harvesting maize when we overheard a radio announcement that the military had taken over the leadership

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Kenya: New opinion piece: 'As Africa rapidly turns away from capital punishment, is it time for Kenya to abolish this relic of a colonial past?'

On Monday 13 June 2022, Professor Carolyn Hoyle, Parvais Jabbar of The Death Penalty Project and Samson Omondi of the Kenya National Commission for Human Rights published the below op-ed article in Kenya's The Star newspaper.

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In July 1987, Hezekiah Ochuka and Pancras Oteyo Okumu were hanged at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison in Nairobi for their role in the 1982 coup d’état attempting to overthrow President Daniel arap Moi. Their deaths were the last to be conducted by the state and almost 35 years have passed since the gallows shut.

Kenya is now abolitionist de facto, a state that has not carried out an execution for more than 10 years. Yet death sentences continue to be imposed, with at least 600 individuals currently on death row after thousands were commuted to life imprisonment over the last 15 years.

Over the past two decades there have