He had also managed to steal some military communication equipment which he had set up at a private house in Nairobi which was located a few kilometres from the city center.

In late July 1982, Ochuka held a secret meeting at football grounds near Umoja estate, at which details of how the coup was to be executed were discussed.

Ochuka told the attendees that he had the support of Uganda, Tanzania, and Sudan, who would send their soldiers to the borders to counter any opposition.

At 6 A.M. Senior Private Hezekiah Ochuka and Sergeant Pancras Oteyo Okumu captured the Voice of Kenya radio station in central Nairobi, from where they then broadcast in English and Swahili that the military had overthrown the government.

[9] Working at the behest of Ochuka, Corporal Bramwel Injeni Njereman was leading a plot to bomb the State House and the General Service Unit headquarters from the Laikipia Air Base, Nanyuki.

[11] The coup was strategically planned to coincide with the war games taking place in Lodwar, a remote town in Kenya, when most of the army units and the senior leadership were away from Nairobi.

Leonard Mbotela, a broadcaster who had earlier been captured by Ochuka[5] to announce the coup went on air to report that the rebels had been defeated and Moi was back in power.

[11] With the help of the General Service Unit (GSU) and later the regular police, Mohamed gained control of Nairobi, causing the Air Force rebels to flee.

Oteyo said that the coup failed because most of the soldiers did not execute their parts of the plan, as they were drinking and looting instead of going to arrest the president and his ministers.

[13] The air force rebels also lacked support from within the army, leaving them with no armor or heavy arms to take and hold key installations.

[3] Corporal Walter Odira Ojode was the first to be charged with the same offence, on 16 December 1982, of which he was found guilty; he also received the death penalty.

Their death sentences, together with those of coup mastermind Ochuka and his counterpart Pancras Oteyo Okumuwere, were carried out on the night of 10 July 1985 at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison.