‘Summon me!’ Kalonzo ready to record statement on CDF Francis Ogolla’s death

Wiper Democratic Party Leader Kalonzo Musyoka has maintained that the death of Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces General Francis Ogolla was not an accident and that he is ready to record a statement with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

Kalonzo, who spoke on Thursday, downplayed the recent postmortem report by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), insisting that an independent commission of inquiry should be formed to look into the death of CDF Ogolla.

The former vice president intimated a possibility of foul play in the crash, which killed 11 people, questioning why the CDF was tasked to inspect primary schools.

“Tell DCI Amin to summon me right now; tutaenda kule Kenya nzima kwa miguu, na Gen Z wote because what I was saying is we ask simple basic questions; sio kazi ya CDF kutumwa aende akaainspect a primary school,” said Kalonzo.

Kalonzo trashed the postmortem report, which linked the accident to possible mechanical damage, reiterating that the CDF and the President are among the most protected individuals in the country and that if that was the case, then it should be an issue of criminal negligence.

“I also want to say that among the most protected people in this country is the Commander-in-Chief, William Ruto himself, and the second one is the Chief of the Defence Forces, you don’t play with those people,” he noted.

“To bring down a helicopter carrying the CDF is not only negligence but criminal negligence. You cannot give any excuse for that. I still demand an independent commission of enquiry to know what happened to General Ogolla. Maybe they were thinking it was over.”

According to the Wiper leader, there had been attempts to oust the CDF over his role in the National Security Council and thus the need to do more investigations.

“It is on record that some people had vowed to remove him because he did his duty as a member of the National Security Council,” he said.

The recently released report by the Ministry of Defence revealed that the tragic incident on April 18, 2024, where Ogolla and nine other KDF personnel died in a helicopter crash in Elgeyo Marakwet County, was caused by an engine malfunction.

The report, which came a year after Ogolla's death, revealed that the Bell Huey helicopter KAF 1501 suffered a surge, which is consistent with witness reports of a loud bang in the engine compartment.

The aircraft then experienced a complete power loss, which was followed by a drop in the engine's Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) and a change in engine noise. An engine's RPM indicates the engine's speed and power output.