Ogolla, 61, a trained fighter pilot, had only been in the post for a year but was shortly due to mark 40 years of military service.
Ruto said the Kenya Air Force had dispatched an investigation team to establish the cause of the crash, which took place in Elgeyo Marakwet county, about 400km (250 miles) northwest of the capital Nairobi.
Ogolla’s helicopter went down shortly after take-off from the village of Chesegon, where he and his entourage had been visiting a school after making stops in other areas to see Kenyan troops and other sites.
Ruto announced three days of mourning from Friday, with official flags to fly at half-mast, while messages of condolence were sent from across the region.
“A distinguished four-star general has fallen in the course of duty and service of the country,” Ruto said.
“Our motherland has lost one of her most valiant generals, gallant officers, servicemen and women.”
The bodies of the victims, draped in Kenyan flags, were returned to Nairobi on an air force plane late Thursday, according to images shared by the presidency.
Kenyan media reports said this was the fifth military chopper crash in 12 months, with claims the aircraft were old and poorly maintained.
In June 2021, at least 10 soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed during a training exercise south of Nairobi.
Ruto said Ogolla had left Nairobi on Thursday morning on a “Huey” helicopter to visit troops in the North Rift area deployed as part of Operation Maliza Uhalifu (Operation End Crime in Swahili).
Kenyan authorities have long battled insecurity in the North Rift region, which is marred by armed bandits and cattle rustlers.
The Bell UH-1B helicopter, nicknamed the “Huey”, was developed in the 1950s and widely used by the US military during the Vietnam war.
Ogolla, a married father of two, was appointed Chief of the Defence Forces by Ruto in April last year, a position that also serves as the top military adviser to the president.
Under Kenyan military regulations, the defence chief normally retires at 62 or after four years in the post, whichever comes first.
Ruto told journalists last May that he appointed Ogolla despite him being among those who tried to overturn his narrow election win against opposition leader Raila Odinga in 2022.
“When I looked at his CV, he was the best person to be (a) general,” Ruto said.
Ogolla joined the KDF in April 1984, rising through the ranks to command the Kenyan Air Force in 2018, a post he held for three years before becoming vice-chief of the defence forces in 2021.
Ruto’s predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta said Ogolla’s death was a “significant loss to the nation”.
“The CDF was not only an accomplished military leader, but also a devoted patriot who dedicated his life to serving and protecting our beloved country.”
Messages of condolence were also sent by, among others, the African Union, regional grouping IGAD and the US, British and EU embassies in Kenya.
“This loss is not only felt by Kenya but also by the entire region,” IGAD secretary general Workneh Gebeyehu said on X.
Citizens Commission on Human Rights Exhibit in South African Township Exposes Racism and Abuse in the … – Send2Press Newswire
DIEPSLOOT, South Africa, and LOS ANGELES, Calif., May 1, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Citizens Commission on Human Rights South Africa brought the Psychiatry: An Industry of Death Exhibit to Diepsloot, a densely populated township in Gauteng, South Africa. The exhibit, held April 19 to 26, educated officials, business owners, members of African royalty and residents on human rights abuse, racism and harmful practices that pervade psychiatry, including its role in promoting racism.
Photo caption: Most people touring the exhibit had no idea that eugenics came from psychiatry and was the justification for apartheid, the creation of the townships and the degradation of the people of South Africa.
Like many South African townships, Diepsloot suffers from poverty and substandard living conditions. The townships were the product of apartheid, the political system implemented in 1948 and continued until ended by the election of 1994. Townships were part of the government’s solution to enforcing racial segregation. But few visiting the exhibit were aware of psychiatry’s role in apartheid. Many were shocked to learn that psychiatry was behind the pseudoscience known as “eugenics” that promoted “improving” the human race through selective breeding and sterilization.
German psychiatrist Eugen Fischer (1874–1967) experimented on native people in concentration camps on Shark Island in a German colony that is now part of Namibia. His macabre “research” included decapitating victims and sending their skulls to Germany so psychiatrists could study so-called “inferior races.”
Fischer recommended outlawing interracial marriage, which was adopted in 1912 throughout African German colonies. It was these same false psychiatric theories that gave the government of South Africa the “legitimacy” it needed to implement apartheid.
The exhibit also raised awareness of the dangers of drugging children with substances whose side effects are known to increase violenceand suicidality.
CCHR aims to educate parents, caregivers, and mental health professionals throughout South Africa. Concerned visitors included ward councilors, police officials, pastors, and community leaders. Many pledged their support of CCHR’s efforts with 98 signing up to volunteer for the local CCHR chapter. Victims shared their own experiences of abuse in the mental health field and expressed relief that CCHR is taking action to help.
CCHR South Africa is a nonprofit organization dedicated to investigating and exposing human rights violations in the mental health field. Its work is inspired by visionary and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard who believed that human rights must be made a fact, not an idealistic dream.
For more information visit the website of Citizens Commission on Human Rights or watch a series of documentaries on the Scientology Network:
Citizens Commission on Human Rights was cofounded in 1969 by professor of psychiatry Dr. Thomas Szasz and the Church of Scientology. With headquarters in Los Angeles, California, CCHR International guides a global human rights advocacy network of some 180 chapters across more than 30 nations. CCHR Commissioners include physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, lawyers, legislators, government officials, educators and civil rights representatives.
Photo caption: Most people touring the exhibit had no idea that eugenics came from psychiatry and was the justification for apartheid, the creation of the townships and the degradation of the people of South Africa.
The Palaver Tree: Peacebuilding in Africa – World BEYOND War
By Marc Eliot Stein, April 30, 2024
World BEYOND War is busily organizing against violence and war in various places around the continent of Africa, thanks to the hard work of Guy Feugap, who initially joined this organization as a volunteer, then founded the Cameroon chapter before becoming the Africa organizer and working to forge new relationships with peace activists in Senegal, Mali, Nigeria, Burundi, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Togo, Zimbabwe and more.
We were thrilled to devote episode 59 of the World BEYOND War podcast talking to Guy about his exciting progress, which can be glimpsed on our new Africa page. As always on the WBW podcast, we had a no-boundaries conversation that touched upon middle children, killer robots, misunderstandings about how diplomacy and negotiation can solve problems, the history of German, English and French colonization in central Africa, the risks of being a peace activist in certain war-torn African countries, and the lack of wide global understanding of cultures and societies in Africa, as well as the wars that plague many regions.
In this interview, Guy Feugap emphasizes the cherished African values that can point the way away from the vicious cycles of endless repetitive war.
Our podcast host in Brooklyn, New York and our guest from Cameroon (who we spoke to as he attended a conference about war technologies in Vienna, Austria) come to a simple conclusion at the end of this fascinating conversation: we already know how to end every current and future war, but there is no will for peace among the greedy, corrupt governments driving our planet to climate disaster and suicide. There is no magic to diplomacy and compromise, but diplomacy and compromise cannot succeed when governments consider war more profitable than humanity. “We can have peace tomorrow.” We only need to start prioritizing human beings and the path to peace is clear, in Africa and all over the world.
Music for this episode: “No To War” by Blaze Weka.
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