The plane, which had been on a go to to troops deployed in northwest Kenya to fight endemic cattle-rustling, got here down simply minutes after leaving Cheptulel Boys Secondary College in West Pokot County, Ruto stated.
Two troopers survived the crash and had been in hospital, he stated, including that an air investigation crew had been despatched to find the trigger. “Our motherland has misplaced considered one of her most valiant generals,” Ruto instructed a information convention. “The demise of Common Ogolla is a painful loss to me.”
Ogolla was beforehand the pinnacle of the Kenyan air pressure, earlier than rising to deputy navy chief after which being promoted by Ruto final 12 months to move the navy.
Ogolla joined the Kenya Defence Forces in 1984, the place he skilled as a fighter pilot with United States Air Pressure and as an teacher pilot on the Kenya Air Pressure (KAF), in line with a Defence Ministry profile. When selling Ogolla to the highest navy job a 12 months in the past, Ruto accused him of being a part of a plot to overturn the results of the 2022 presidential election, however stated he was the most effective certified particular person for the job. Dozens of civilians and law enforcement officials have been killed within the unrest within the northwest.
No less than 10 troopers had been killed in June 2021 when their helicopter crashed whereas touchdown close to the capital, Nairobi.
