Hezekiah Rabala Ochuka (1953–1987) was a Senior Private in the Kenya Air Force who led the failed 1982 coup d’état attempt against President Daniel arap Moi. Despite holding the second-lowest rank in the military, Ochuka effectively ruled Kenya for six hours on August 1, 1982. As of January 11, 2026, he remains a figure of intense historical fascination—the last man to be judicially executed in Kenya and a symbol of the “darkest Sunday” in the nation’s history.
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Key Biographical Information
| Detail | Information |
| Full Name | Hezekiah Rabala Ochuka (alias Awour) |
| Born | July 23, 1953, Nyakach, Kisumu District |
| Died | July 9, 1987 (Aged 33), Kamiti Maximum Security Prison |
| Rank | Senior Private Grade-I (Kenya Air Force) |
| Rule | 6 Hours (August 1, 1982) |
| Current Status | Historical figure; last person executed under Kenyan law. |
2026: The “Unfinished” Burial and Family Quest
Entering 2026, the Ochuka story has shifted from a military failure to a poignant human rights issue regarding the right to a proper burial.
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The Quest for Closure (2025–2026): In late 2024 and throughout 2025, the Ochuka family in Nyakach made renewed public appeals to the government to release his remains. As of January 2026, his body remains interred in an unmarked grave at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison. Following Luo tradition, the family has held symbolic ceremonies using objects in his honor, but they continue to petition the state for the right to bury him in his ancestral home.
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Legal Memory: Ochuka is frequently cited by legal scholars this year in debates about the death penalty. Although Kenya has not carried out an execution since his hanging in 1987, the fact that he was the “last man on the rope” makes him a central case study for abolitionists and the Judiciary.
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The “Six-Hour” Documentary (2025): A major documentary titled “The Man Who Dared,” released in mid-2025, sparked fresh debate on social media. It explored the “obsessive” nature of Ochuka’s ambition, including the claim that he had carved the words “The Next President of Kenya” on his military desk years before the coup.
The “August 1” Putsch
The 1982 coup was a chaotic event that fundamentally changed Kenya’s political trajectory:
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The Takeover: At 6:00 AM on August 1, Ochuka and Sergeant Pancras Oteyo captured the Voice of Kenya (VOK) radio station. Ochuka forced broadcaster Leonard Mambo Mbotela to announce that the “People’s Redemption Council” had taken power.
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The Failure: The coup lacked coordination. While the Air Force held the radio station and airbases, regular army units remained loyal to Moi. By noon, loyalist forces led by General Mahmoud Mohamed stormed the VOK building, ending Ochuka’s six-hour “presidency.”
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The Flight and Extradition: Ochuka fled to Tanzania in a hijacked military plane, seeking asylum from Julius Nyerere. However, in a rare cross-border deal, he was extradited back to Kenya in 1983 to face a court-martial.
The “Last Execution”
Ochuka’s trial and execution marked the end of an era:
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The Sentence: He was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. He was defended by lawyer (and current Speaker of the National Assembly) Moses Wetangula.
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The Hanging: On the night of July 9, 1987, Ochuka was hanged at Kamiti. Reports from the time described the execution as “botched” and gruesome, leading to an unofficial moratorium on the death penalty that has lasted until January 2026.
Impact on Kenya
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Moi’s “Iron Fist”: The coup attempt turned Daniel arap Moi from a populist leader into a paranoid autocrat. It led to the disbanding of the Air Force, the creation of the infamous Nyayo House torture chambers, and a decade of intense political repression.
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The Odinga Link: The coup also saw the detention of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and his son Raila Odinga, who were accused of being the intellectual masterminds behind the junior officers’ rebellion.