Kenya’s army chief, Francis Omondi Ogolla, and nine other military officials were killed on Thursday April 18 in a helicopter crash in the west of the country, President William Ruto announced. Aged 61, Francis Omondi Ogolla was appointed head of the armed forces on April 29, 2023 by Mr. Ruto.
“Today at 2:30 p.m. [local time, 1:30 p.m. in Paris], our nation experienced a tragic air accident in the Sindar region (…) in Elgeyo Marakwet County. I am deeply saddened to announce the death of General Francis Omondi Ogolla, head of the Kenya Defense Forces,” declared the Kenyan head of state, following a meeting of the security council he had convened emergency.
“With him during the accident were eleven other valiant soldiers, nine who also died with him, and two [who survived],” he added.
Military officials visit Kenya
These military officials were visiting this region located 400 kilometers from Nairobi, notably to “visit troops deployed in the northern Rift Valley as part of Operation Maliza Uhalifu [“end crime”, in Swahili]”, intended to combat the groups of bandits who are sowing terror there, said William Ruto.
A few weeks later, Mr. Ruto defended his choice, responding to those who, including in his close circle, accused Francis Omondi Ogolla of trying to prevent his victory in the August 2022 presidential election.
The chairman of the electoral commission, Wafula Chebukati, said that the then number two in the army was part of a group of people who asked him not to declare William Ruto the winner against Raila Odinga.
“When I looked at his CV, he was the best person to be [a] general,” William Ruto told reporters.
Having attended the Ecole Militaire de Paris and the National Defense College of Kenya, he began his career in April 1984 in the Air Force, according to the website of the Kenyan Ministry of Defense. Married and father of two children, he had one grandchild.
