Nairobi:

Kenyan President William Ruto said Kenya’s defense minister and nine other senior officials were killed in a military helicopter crash in a remote part of the country on Thursday.

Ruto told reporters: “At 2:20 this afternoon, our country suffered a tragic air crash… It is with great sadness that I announce the death of General Francis Omondi Ogola, Commander of the Kenya Defense Forces (CDF).”

After news of the crash broke, the president convened an emergency meeting of the National Security Council and said nine other “heroic military personnel” on board also died, while two survived.

Ogora, 61, is a trained fighter pilot who has only been on the job for a year but will soon celebrate his 40th anniversary in service.

Ruto said the Kenya Air Force had sent an investigation team to determine the cause of the crash, which occurred in Elgeyo Marakwet County, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) northwest of the capital Nairobi.

Ogora’s helicopter crashed shortly after taking off from the village of Chesegun, where he and his entourage were visiting a school after stopping in other areas to visit Kenyan troops and other sites.

——’Outstanding four-star general’——

Ruto announced three days of mourning starting on Friday, with flags officially flying at half-mast while messages of condolence were sent out from across the region.

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

“Our motherland has lost one of its most heroic generals, heroic officers, and soldiers.”

The victim’s body, draped in the Kenyan flag, was flown back to Nairobi by an air force plane on Thursday night, according to images shared by the presidential palace.

Kenyan media reported that this was the fifth military helicopter crash in 12 months and that the aircraft was said to be old and poorly maintained.

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

Ruto said Ogora left Nairobi on Thursday morning aboard a Huey helicopter to visit troops deployed in the Northern Rift Valley area as part of Operation Malizha Ukhalif (Kiswahili Stop) criminal operations).

Kenyan authorities have long struggled with insecurity in the Northern Rift Valley region, which is plagued by armed bandits and cattle rustlers.

The Bell UH-1B helicopter, nicknamed the “Huey”, was developed in the 1950s and was widely used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War.

– ‘Significant loss to the country’ –

Ogola, a married father of two, was appointed by Ruto last April as chief of defense staff, a position that also serves as the president’s top military adviser.

According to Kenyan military regulations, the defense minister usually retires at the age of 62 or after four years in office, whichever comes first.

Ruto told reporters in May last year that he appointed Ogola despite his attempts to overturn his narrow defeat of opposition leader Raila Odinga in the 2022 elections.

“When I looked at his resume, he was the best candidate to become a general,” Ruto said.

Ogola joined the Kenya Defense Forces in April 1984 and was promoted to Commander of the Kenya Air Force in 2018. He served in this position for three years and became Deputy Commander of the Defense Forces in 2021.

Ruto’s predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta said Ogola’s death was a “big loss to the country”.

“The PLA is not only an accomplished military leader, but also a loyal patriot who has dedicated his life to serving and protecting our beloved country.”

The African Union, the IGAD regional organization and the embassies of the United States, Britain and the European Union in Kenya also sent messages of condolences.

“This is a loss not just for Kenya but for the entire region,” IGAD Secretary-General Workneh Gebeyehu said on Channel X.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)