Kenya’s army chief among 10 senior military officials killed in helicopter crash
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Kenya’s defence chief was among ten senior military commanders to be killed in a helicopter crash in a remote western area of the country on Thursday night.
General Francis Omondi Ogolla was on board the aircraft along with nine other “gallant military personnel” when it crashed soon after take-off in Elgeyo-Marakwet county, president William Ruto announced.
Mr Ruto, who convened an urgent meeting of the National Security Council in Nairobi after news of the accident emerged, said two people had survived the crash.
The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) helicopter, which took off from the village of Chesegon at about 2.20pm local time, had been ferrying officials back from visiting troops rebuilding schools in an area that has been plagued by bandits.
Evans Kipkosgei, who witnessed the crash, told The Standard, a Kenyan daily newspaper: “We rushed to the scene and we found the chopper up in flames.
“The scene was immediately cordoned off by KDF officers who are stationed in Kerio Valley. Some burnt bodies were removed from the wreckage.”
Kenya is one of the UK’s closest military allies in Africa. The British Army maintains a large training ground in the country which infantry units use for field training.
Gen Ogolla, 61, was appointed chief of the defence forces by Mr Ruto in April last year after a stint as deputy.
Mr Ruto told journalists last May that he appointed Gen Ogolla despite him being among those who tried to overturn his narrow election win against opposition leader Raila Odinga in 2022.
“When I looked at his CV, he was the best person to be a general,” he said, adding his decision went against the wishes of many people.
A trained fighter pilot, Ogolla joined the KDF in April 1984, rising through the ranks to command the Kenyan Air Force in 2018, a post he held for three years.
Mr Ruto said the Kenya Air Force had dispatched an investigation team to establish the cause of the crash, which took place about 250 miles north-west of the capital,
He announced three days of mourning from Friday, with official flags to fly at half mast.
The bodies of the victims, draped in Kenyan flags, were returned to Nairobi on an air force plane late on Thursday, according to images shared by the presidency.
“A distinguished four-star general has fallen in the course of duty and service of the country,” Mr Ruto said.
“Our motherland has lost one of her most valiant generals, gallant officers, servicemen and women.”
Kenyan media reports said this was the fifth military helicopter crash in 12 months, with claims the aircraft were old and poorly maintained.
The Bell UH-1B helicopter, nicknamed the “Huey,” was developed in the 1950s and widely used by the US military during the Vietnam War.
