August 1st 2007 was a day when the memory of the 1982 August coup in Kenya was observed by those concerned. During this period of reminisce, the Kenya People’s Democratic Movement (KESDEMO) joins other Kenyans in remembering more than 2000 Kenyans who were killed during the coup attempt on August 1st 1982, a coup whose main objective was to topple the former dictatorship of Daniel arap Moi. At that time, Kenya was under a corrupt and ruthless one Party dictatorship which tortured, killed and maimed numerous innocent citizens especially those who were opposed to the regime.
KESDEMO is aware that the attempted coup has often come under attack by bourgeoisie media commentators who have notoriously portrayed it as a criminal act that should not have been organized in the first place. Courageous coup leaders like Hezekiah Ochuka have, at times, been portrayed in a negative light while shortly before the commemoration last year, Kenyans witnessed a hysterical call by demented critics in both the Church and the corrupt Kibaki administration that Raila Odinga be prosecuted after he admitted his involvement in the coup in his biography.
The official view of KESDEMO is that at the time of the coup, the Moi dictatorship had closed down all possible avenues for democratic change and under the difficult circumstances, those who organized the coup simply did what was necessary to try and bring about change in our country. The second option could have been a bloody and protracted armed struggle to overthrow the Moi dictatorship or mobilization for a mass insurrection especially after Moi started managing Kenya like a private company.
That said, KESDEMO takes this opportunity to remember coup leaders who were executed by former dictator Moi between 9th and 10th July 1985 after a conspiracy that resulted in their deportation from Tanzania where they had been granted asylum. A very important chapter of Kenya’s history will probably never be written because Moi’s thirst for the blood of the coup leaders led him to execute them at Kamiti maximum security prison. The body of Hezekiah Ochuka, the coup leader, has never been buried by his family.
KESDEMO shares in the pain of families who lost their loved ones at the hands of pro-Moi forces who returned him to power after the former dictator was successfully overthrown and an announcement to that effect made over the then Voice of Kenya (VOK).
Specifically, KESDEMO remembers Hezekiah Ochuka, Pancras Oteyo Okumu, Charles Oriwa Hongo, Robert Odhiambo Ndege, Bramwell Injeni Njeremani, Fenwicks Chesoli Obuon, Joseph Ogidi Obuon, Charles Mirasi Odawa, Walter Odira Ojode, Edward Adel Omollo, James Odemba Otieno and George Akoth Otila whose execution orders were signed by Moi himself.
Obviously, the coup leaders might not have had a revolutionary Program for change or a clear anti-capitalist agenda currently necessary in our country. However, these heroic Kenyans deserve to be recognized for their courage and the extra-ordinary steps they took to try and free Kenya from the tight grip of a marauding autocrat who had become totally drunk with power.
Through the Kenya People’s Redemption Council (KPRC) under which the coup was organized, the coup leaders were struggling against corruption, tribalism, nepotism, cronyism, political opportunism, looting of public resources, dictatorship, poverty, underdevelopment, starvation wages at the barracks, external dependencies, internal exploitation and political marginalization of different ethnic groups.
These are problems that continue to plague Kenya more than two decades after the coup and even Narc government (led by the aging Kibaki) has been unable to address these problems since the Party took power in January 2002 because of ideological bankruptcy, narrow self interest and political opportunism.
Although some Kenyans have disagreed with the coup leaders especially on their main method of seizing power, KESDEMO believes that the Ochukas and everybody who paid with their lives in the struggle to remove Moi from power needs to be duly recognized because they were forward thinking Kenyans yearning to liberate that country. Barely four years after Moi took power, Ochuka and other coup leaders understood that it would be impossible to remove him from power through “democratic elections” and this is the perspective that ignited them to plan and execute the coup. Kenyans celebrated for a moment after announcement over the then Voice of Kenya.
Twenty years after the coup, Moi did rig himself back to power in four subsequent elections thereby confirming the thesis of Ochuka and his compatriots who tried to use force. In fact, Moi quit in 2002 only after he was forced to open the democratic space to allow for more parties and when he noticed that possibilities of rigging another election was impossible because of mass pressure. In any case, the former dictator was growing old and he understood that he had to go soone rather than later.
In the middle of Nairobi, a monument was erected to remember Kenyans who died in the second world war, an imperialist war that had nothing to do with the liberation of our country. In almost every region in Kenya where there is a military barrack, there is a British War Cemetery devoted to British soldiers who died during both the second world war and the Mau Mau war of liberation.
Every year in our country, the British Embassy in Nairobi organizes celebrations to remember and honor “Fallen British heroes” who killed our own people during British colonial occupation. What is pathetic is that at these celebrations, top Kenyan military personnel (Rank of Major and above) are normally incorporated to “salute” at grave yards in memory of fallen soldiers who took away the lives of hundreds of fellow Kenyans during one of history’s darkest hour in our country.
KESDEMO believes that the use of Kenyan military personnel during these rituals should stop while the Movement also thinks that monuments should be built to honor Kenyan heroes who paid with their lives during the Mau Mau war of liberation and the August 1982 coup attempt. Numerous Kenyans lost their lives during the struggle for political pluralism but now, they have all been forgotten.
The view of KESDEMO is that a government worth its salt should address the issue of compensation to suffering families of the fallen, anti-colonial, anti Moi heroes in our country and this will not happen if a government that recognizes these heroes is not put into place. The Kibaki government is not such government and that is why KESDEMO has joined hands with ODM-K to remove this corrupt government from power.
Today, if President Mwai Kibaki abolishes all avenues for political change by banning political parties, KESDEMO will be the first to support the idea of another coup against the regime without any apologies.
Martin Ngatia
Chairperson
Kenya Scandinavia Democratic Movement (KESDEMO)
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