By Katumba Gerald.
General Francis Omondi Ogolla and nine other people were killed in the crash at 2:20 pm on Thursday April 2024 in Elgeyo Marakwet County, about 400km (250 miles) northwest of the capital, Nairobi.
The aircraft was a Bell UH-1H Huey II operated by the 53 Tactical Helicopter Squadron of the Kenyan Air Force, came down just minutes after taking off near Cheptulel Boys Secondary School in West Pokot County.
The crash occurred while Gen.Ogolla and 11 others were on a mission to reopen schools in the North Rift region following bandit attacks and to inspect soldiers deployed in northwest Kenya to combat cattle rustling.
Gen. Francis Omondi Ogolla joined the Kenya Defence Forces in 1984. He began his career as a 2nd lieutenant in the Kenyan Air Force and received training as a fighter pilot with the US Air Force.
He previously held senior positions of authority in the service, including Commanding Officer Laikipia Air Base Tactical Flight Wing (2007), as well as Base Commander Laikipa Air Base (2008-2014).
He was promoted to Brigadier on April 10, 2012, and subsequently appointed the Deputy Air Force Commander; on July 13, 2018, he was promoted to Major General and appointed Commander of the Kenya Air Force. Ogolla was then on July 23, 2021 promoted to Lieutenant General and appointed the Vice Chief of the Defence Forces.
In 2018, he became Commander of the Kenya Air Force and later Vice Chief of Defence Forces. He was appointed Chief of Defence Forces by President William Ruto after the retirement of General Robert Kariuki Kibochi in April 2023.
At the time, Ogolla’s appointment raised controversy after the head of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission accused him of being part of a national security council delegation that tried to influence the result of the 2022 general election against the eventual winner, Ruto.
When promoting Ogolla to the top military job a year ago, Ruto accused him of being part of a plot to overturn the result of the 2022 presidential election but said he was the best qualified person for the job.
Ogolla studied and graduated from the École Militaire de Paris, the National Defence College of Kenya, Egerton University and the University of Nairobi. He was a recipient of several awards, including the Elder of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya (EGH) and Chief of the Order of the Burning Spear (CBS).
