Retired soldier recalls intrigues of failed 1982 coup

August 1, 2014 marked the 32nd anniversary of the failed 1982 coup.

To many it may just be another day in the calendar yet the history of this country will never be complete without the mention of the events of one of the Kenya’s darkest moments.

At midnight on Sunday, August 1, 1982, a group of soldiers from the Kenya Air Force announced that they had overthrown the government of President Daniel arap Moi.

While the ripple effects of the coup which experts then estimated to be in excess of more than half a billion shilling in damages and loss of more than 200 lives may have subsided, to others the events that followed the attempted coup are still fresh in their minds.

Two neighbours in Rongai Sub-County of Nakuru County had planned to hold a special thanksgiving ceremony for surviving the attempted coup.

The two are retired president Daniel arap Moi and his next door neighbour Lt-Gen (retired) Humphrey Njoroge.

Mr Moi was the Commander-in-chief when Senior Private Hezekiah Ochuka led a band of KAF soldiers in attempting to overthrow his regime.

JUNIOR OFFICER

Retired Lt Gen Njoroge was then a junior officer of the rank of a major in the army and played a critical role in turning the tables against the coup plotters.

If the coup had succeeded, it would have entered into the military history books as the first ever successful coup to be initiated by a junior officer of a rank of a private.

Successful coups in Africa have been led by commissioned officers from the rank of Captain.

Unknown to many, the celebrated three stars general who retired on July 27, 2004 after having served the Kenya Defence Forces for 38 years and 91 days was in the think-tank of General Mohamoud Mohamed as they planned and executed the delicate operation of removing rebels from the then Voice of Kenya (VoK) that saved Mr Moi.

TRAINED IN GUERRILLA WARFARE

“I was trained on guerrilla warfare in the best military training schools in Pakistan and it is this knowledge that I used to advise my seniors on how to tackle the Kenya Air Force rebels,” recalls Mr Njoroge.

According Lt Gen Njoroge, Gen Mohammed led the successful raid on VoK on the fateful day between 7am and 10am with less than 20 infantry sharpshooters mainly from Kenya Rifles.

Interestingly, since his retirement in 2002, Mr Moi has never met one-on-one with one of the key architects of the plan that restored him to power.

“The last time Mr Moi passed near my farm was in 1984. He had visited my neighbour a Mr Kimetto and when he was told by an aide who the owner of the next farm was, his mind immediately flashed back to the events of 1982 before he remarked: ‘Tell him I will come for lunch’ ”recalls Mr Njoroge.

WAITING FOR MOI'S VISIT

Exactly three decade since he made that remark, Mr Njoroge is still waiting for that moment when he will welcome his former Commander-in-Chief in his house.

Nation.co.ke traced Mr Njoroge at his 100 acre farm at Lenginet Location where he recalled some of the events that tipped the political landscape of this country as if they happened just the other day.

Mr Njoroge who at the age of 44 was a two star General, which is very rare in Kenya as most of the senior officers are promoted to that grade while at the age of 50 and above, says he has never shared a table with his former boss.

However, he says they occasionally interact freely when attending church service at the Kabarak chapel.

“Mr Moi has an amazing sharp memory. When we meet after church service at Kabarak Chapel, he still remembers me as the solider who played Joseph Kamaru’s then popular tune Moi Songa na Mbele moments after the coup was crashed,” says Njoroge.

PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE

“This song by Kamaru was my personal initiative and I instructed Leonard Mambo to play it throughout as part of the psychological warfare and was meant to alert the army which was in Lodwar for war games that it was still in control,” recalls Lt Gen Njoroge who was at one time a deputy army commander.

But how did he think of this song yet the VoK library was full of many other patriotic songs.

“The bad guys had destroyed all the good records and were only playing military song and as I was searching for an appropriate song I bumped into this record stuck in a corner and since this song was a hit and had a lot of praises for Moi, I thought it was the most appropriate to play as we sought to return calm to the country,” says Njoroge.

He adds: “I knew Mr Moi who was holed up at his Kabarak home also loved this song and if he heard it over the radio that would also calm his nerves and assure him that the rebels had been crushed.”

Mr Njoroge who joined the army as a trainee cadet in 1966 after discontinuing his A level studies at Kagumo High School in Nyeri County, says General Mohamoud Mohammed was the best Chief of the General Staff that this country has ever had.

BEST COMMANDER

“He is simply the best of the best. A commander is as a good as his officers and General Mohammed surrounded himself with the best officers who advised him on operations and logistics, intelligence and best military strategies.

This was why the 1982 coup failed miserably because he was a keen listener to his juniors,” he adds.

He describes Gen Mohammed as a loyal, respected and intelligent officer who loved his soldiers and his administrative skills were superb.

“He was not a power hungry soldier. When we crushed the rebels at VoK, Gen Mohammed could as well have declared himself the head of state but since he was loyal to his Commander-in-Chief and had signed an agreement with his then boss the Army Commander Lt Gen John Sawe that once he takes over the station he will announce that Nyayo soldiers had taken over. He did not disappoint,” Mr Njoroge says.

Mr Njoroge who is today a prominent tree farmer, says his lowest moments during the aborted coup was when his radio communicator, a 30 year old private was shot in the chest during the operations.

DYING SOLDIER

And the last words of the dying soldier are still etched in his mind and every time he remembers the coup they keep on haunting him.

“Before he died, he told me,” Sir look after my family ‘” says, Mr Njoroge.

And he will recall these words as long as he lives as the stained solider was next him when he was felled by a single bullet as he made communication on a radio.

“That bullet that killed him may as well have landed on me and when I recall the operation at VoK, I feel soldiers and police officers should be well remunerated as they put their lives on the line to defend their country,” adds the former alumnus of the US War College.

However, he said his highest moment was when the mission to restore Mr Moi to power was accomplished after eight hours of planning and bloodshed.

“As soldiers, we had sworn to protect the Commander-in-Chief and the constitution of the country,’ he points out.

PASSION FOR COUNTRY

If you have no passion to serve your country, then you have no business seeking for employment in the military,” the father of four sons says.

“Not anybody can become a solider because unless you have passion for service and you are ready to forfeit your social freedom then you should not waste time seeking for a military job,” says Mr Njoroge who is currently the chairman of the Kenya Forest Growers Association.

He says the military is a symbol of national unity and should not be politicised.

“The moment politics enter into the barracks the military ceases to be professional and this may be dangerous to any country.

I have feelings that the events of 1982 may have been as a result of politicians influencing some soldiers to rebel against the State,” he says.