Nairobi, Kenya——

Kenya began three days of mourning on Friday after the country’s defense minister and nine other senior military officers were killed in a helicopter crash, the latest military mishap involving a high-profile figure.

The Ministry of Defense has announced that a 19-gun salute will be fired on Saturday to pay tribute to the Commander-in-Chief of the Kenya Defense Forces, General Francis Omondi Ogola, in the presence of President William Ruto.

Ogora died on Thursday when his helicopter crashed shortly after takeoff in a remote forest area in northwestern Kenya.

Announcing the death that evening, Ruto said: “An outstanding four-star general lost his life in the line of duty and service to the country.”

He said the Air Force has sent an investigation team to determine the cause of the accident.

Ruto joined Ogula’s family in mourning at a ceremony in Nairobi on Friday as the nation began to mourn, with flags flying at half-mast across Kenya and at missions abroad.

“Yesterday was indeed a very, very tragic day,” the president said. “It is a great loss for the country because General Ogola has contributed greatly to national security.”

The funeral will be held on Sunday at Ogola’s home in Siaya, in the west of the country, followed by a memorial service on April 26 on the outskirts of Nairobi, the family said in a statement.

The victim’s body, draped in the Kenyan flag, was flown back to a military base in Nairobi by an air force plane on Thursday night.

One of the officers, Brigadier Swale Saidi, will be buried in the Indian Ocean town of Kilifi on Friday, with other funerals expected to take place in the coming days.

Ogoola is a trained fighter pilot who was promoted to defense minister by Ruto a year ago and is about to celebrate his 40th anniversary in service.

He had been inspecting troops deployed for security operations in the Northern Rift Valley region, which is plagued by violence caused by armed bandits and cattle rustlers.

Ogolla’s daughter, Lorna Ogolla, posted on LinkedIn that her father died “doing what he did best for most of the past 40 years – trying to keep Kenya safe “.

Messages of condolences were sent from across Kenya and across the continent, as well as from the United Nations, the United States and other Kenyan allies.

“From countering the terrorist threat posed by al-Shabaab to leading efforts to strengthen regional cooperation in all areas, he has left an indelible mark,” U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement.

The Standard said this was the fifth armed forces helicopter crash in 12 months, adding that Kenyan military aircraft were old and poorly maintained.

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

Ogola is one of many high-profile victims of air crashes in Kenya. In 2012, Internal Security Minister George Saitoti, who was seen as a possible presidential candidate, was one of six people killed in a police helicopter crash.

Kenya has one of the largest military budgets in East Africa, with a military budget of $1.1 billion for the fiscal year ending June 2024, according to government statistics.

In its 2024 Military Balance report, the International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated the total number of active-duty armed forces at 24,100.

The East African country is a major contributor to United Nations peacekeeping operations and also deploys troops on missions in the region.

Ogola, a married father of two, joined the Kenya Defense Forces in April 1984 and was promoted to Commander of the Kenya Air Force in 2018, a position he held for three years before becoming Deputy Commander of the Defense Forces in 2021 , and became Minister of Defense in April 2023.