Kenya’s highest-ranking military officer, Gen Francis Omondi Ogolla, died on Thursday, 18 April, after a military helicopter crashed in the west of the country.
As reported by BBC, Ogolla was in the helicopter alongside 11 other military personnel. Only two people survived.
Kenyan President William Ruto convened an urgent security council meeting following the fatal helicopter crash.
In a news conference later, President Ruto said it was a “moment of great sadness” for the country.
He said the crash happened at 2:20 PM (local time) in Elgeyo Marakwet county, some 400km (250 miles) north-west of the capital Nairobi, shortly after take off. The Kenyan Air Force dispatched an air investigation team to establish the cause. He said:
Our motherland has lost one of her most valiant generals, gallant officers, service men and women.
Kenya will observe three days of mourning, commencing on this Friday, with flags flying at half-mast.
Ogolla was appointed Kenya’s military chief in April 2023 after serving as the commander of the air force and deputy chief of defence forces.
According to the Kenyan Defence Ministry’s website, Ogolla first joined the Kenya Defence Forces on 24 April 1984.
He was due to mark 40 years in the military next week.
The Ministry says Ogolla began his career as a 2nd lieutenant in the country’s air force, where he trained as a fighter pilot with the US Air Force. In 2018, he became commander of the air force.
The other nine who perished in the crash were named as Brig Swale Saidi, Col Duncan Keittany, Lt Col David Sawe, Maj George Benson Magondu, Capt Sora Mohamed, Capt Hillary Litali, Snr Sgt John Kinyua Mureithi, Sgt Cliphonce Omondi, and Sgt Rose Nyawira.
The two survivors were said to be in critical condition and undergoing treatment.
The officers had travelled to Kenya’s North Rift region, where armed bandits have been active in recent years.
They were on a mission to reopen some of the schools closed following attacks by insurgents. They had also visited military officers deployed to stabilise the region.
