According to accounts, the chief of defense forces, General Francis Omondi Ogolla, was on board the helicopter when it crashed in Elgeyo Marakwet county, killing many individuals onboard.
According to a diplomat and a source close to the administration, General Francis Ogolla, Kenya’s top military officer, was one of the senior officers slain in a military helicopter accident in the country’s west.
A senior police officer informed the AFP news agency that on Thursday, a Kenyan military helicopter carrying high brass in the armed forces went down in Elgeyo Marakwet county, some 400 kilometers northwest of Nairobi, the country’s capital.
“The helicopter burst into flames after crashing and it had more than 10 senior commanders on board including General Ogolla,” stated the officer.
“They were in the area on a security mission because there are KDF (Kenya Defence Forces) soldiers deployed in the region,” he explained.
President William Ruto called an immediate meeting of the National Security Council following the incident, as his office announced.
According to a statement from the State House spokesman Hussein Mohamed, “President William Ruto has called an urgent meeting of the National Security Council at State House Nairobi this evening following a helicopter crash involving the Kenya Defence Forces this afternoon in Elgeyo-Marakwet County.”
When their chopper crashed in June 2021 while landing close to Nairobi’s capital, at least ten troops lost their lives.
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Government spokesman Isaac Mwaura promised on social media that a statement regarding the tragedy would be released shortly.
After serving as deputy, Ogolla, 61, was named Chief of the Defence Forces by Ruto in April of last year.
In May of last year, Ruto told reporters that Ogolla was appointed even though Ogolla was one of the people who attempted to revoke his narrow victory against Raila Odinga, the head of the opposition, in the 2022 election.
Ruto claimed that based on his resume, “he was the best person to be (a) general,” even if his choice defied the opinions of many others.
Ogolla, a skilled fighter pilot, enlisted in the KDF in April 1984 and advanced through the ranks to become the force’s commander in 2018, a position he occupied for three years.
SOURCE: TRTWORLD
