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Kenya mourns defense chief who died in a helicopter crash


A man looks at a newspaper with the headline of the death of defence chief General Francis Omondi Ogolla and nine other senior military officers who were killed in a helicopter crash, in Nairobi on April 19, 2024.
A man looks at a newspaper with the headline of the death of defence chief General Francis Omondi Ogolla and nine other senior military officers who were killed in a helicopter crash, in Nairobi on April 19, 2024.

Kenyans on Friday began three days of mourning after the East African nation’s defense chief and nine other military officials died in a helicopter crash.

President William Ruto confirmed the death Thursday of General Francis Omondi Ogolla, the chief of the Kenya Defense Forces, CDF. His helicopter went down in a remote forested area of northwestern Kenya shortly after takeoff.

During an address on state TV and X, formerly known as Twitter, Ruto announced the three-day mourning period from today, with the national flag flying at half-staff across the country and at Kenyan missions abroad.

The Kenyan president also published video on X, showing the remains of the military personnel being transported to Nairobi.

Ogolla's family said a funeral would be held Sunday at his home in Siaya County in the west of the country, followed by a memorial service in a Nairobi suburb on April 26.

The deceased Kenyan military chief, a trained fighter pilot, had been promoted to the role by Ruto just a year ago and was about to mark 40 years of military service.

Ogolla, born in 1962, had been visiting troops deployed in Operation Maliza Uhalifu (Operation End Crime in Swahili) in the North Rift region, where insecurity caused by armed bandits and cattle rustlers is rife.

His daughter Lorna Ogolla said in a poignant post on LinkedIn that her father died "doing what he did best for the better part of the last 40 years — trying to keep Kenya safe."

FILE — Kenya's President William Ruto is pictured with the nation's Chief of Defense Forces General Francis Ogolla while inspecting a guard of honor at the State House in Nairobi, on February 28, 2024.
FILE — Kenya's President William Ruto is pictured with the nation's Chief of Defense Forces General Francis Ogolla while inspecting a guard of honor at the State House in Nairobi, on February 28, 2024.

The international community joined Kenyans in mourning the deceased military officials.

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan released a statement saying Washington offers its “deepest condolences to President William Ruto, the Kenyan Defense Forces and the Kenyan people on the loss of Chief of Defense Forces General Francis Omondi Ogolla and several other passengers.

“General Ogolla was a valuable partner in Kenyan-U.S. relations, dedicating his life to making his country – and all of us – safer and more secure,” Sullivan added.

The U.S. representative said Ogolla played a pivotal role in fighting “terrorist threats posed by al-Shabaab,” the Somalia-based extremist group, and led “efforts to bolster regional cooperation across a range of domains.”

“He (Ogolla) has left an indelible mark,” Sullivan said.

The Standard newspaper, a Kenyan media outlet, said this was the fifth armed forces chopper crash in 12 months, amid claims that the country's military aircraft are aging and poorly maintained.

In June 2021, at least 10 soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed during a training exercise south of Nairobi.

In 2012, internal security minister George Saitoti, seen as a possible presidential candidate, was among six people killed in a police helicopter crash.

Some information for this article was sourced from Agence France-Presse.

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