Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kipchumba Murkomen has come out to set the record straight concerning the investigations into the helicopter crash that claimed the lives of departed Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Francis Ogolla and nine other military officials.
Murkomen, while reacting to concerns raised by lawyer Miguna Miguna, clarified that the Transport Department within his Ministry does not investigate military planes.
"As a department of transport, we don’t investigate military planes. Our work is strictly restricted to civilian airplanes," Murkomen wrote on X.
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As a department of transport, we don’t investigate military planes. Our work is strictly restricted to civilian airplanes. https://t.co/vgU82rLUuJ— KIPCHUMBA MURKOMEN, E.G.H (@kipmurkomen) April 22, 2024
Miguna Miguna had blasted Murkomen while referring to a gazette notice that announced the investigation team formed to probe the accident.
Miguna argued that Murkomen did not have the mandate to investigate the accident involving the military chopper.
"I have heard people, including prominent Kenyan politicians and advocates who should know better, claiming that there is an “investigation team” formed to probe General Francis Omondi Ogolla’s death.
"When did President @WilliamsRuto establish or gazatte the Probe Team?
"Remember that no one except the President of the Republic has the mandate to set up a team investigating the death of Kenya’s Chief of Defence Staff. Not a cabinet secretary.
"The team announced by CS @kipmurkomen cannot legally investigate and has no (technical and legal) capacity to investigate the circumstances surrounding General Ogolla’s death.
"The RANK of a Deputy President and/ or a CS is below that of a CDF.
"Moreover, the military will not cooperate with that purely civilian team, honour its summons and comply with any directives from or findings by it.
"We must be a country that adheres to the rule of law and avoids the tendency of engaging in PR exercises on such grave matters!
"(PS: I have not mentioned Joel Ogolla’s name because he is IRRELEVANT to this issue.)," Miguna Miguna wrote on X.
Ogolla's death
President William Ruto announced the death of General Francis Ogolla in a helicopter crash on Thursday afternoon April 18, 2024.
Addressing the press in the evening, President Ruto said the military chopper crashed at the Sindar area in Elgeyo Marakwet County at around 2:20 pm.
"Today, at 2:20 pm, our nation suffered a tragic air accident in the Sindar area, Keben location, Tot division, in Elgeyo Marakwet County. I am deeply saddened to announce the passing on of General Francis Omondi Ogolla, the Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces," he said.
Ruto went on to announce that the ill-fated helicopter was also carrying 11 other military officers, nine of whom were killed alongside CDF Ogolla in the crash, leaving only two survivors.
Murkomen's statement
In a statement later on Monday, the government recorded an increase in accidents and incidents involving Kenyan-registered aircraft in South Sudan and Somalia, raising concerns among national and international stakeholders in the aviation sector.
As a result, he said the government through the Ministry of Transport had initiated investigations into the accidents and incidents involving civilian aircraft accidents for both private and commercial planes.
"Locally, we have also witnessed incidents particularly involving small aircraft such as the recent one at Wilson Airport, which claimed the lives of a student and an instructor. It is worth noting that the Ministry of Roads and Transport has the legal mandate to investigate civilian aircraft accidents for both private and commercial planes, a mandate derived from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) laws and regulations," he stated.
Currently, the responsibility of investigating civilian aircraft accidents is being discharged by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Department domiciled within the Ministry, and the formation of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Team is only meant to strengthen and support the department to carry out investigations into Kenyan-registered aircraft accidents with a greater emphasis on those that have occurred in Somalia and South Sudan."
The CS said the Ministry is drafting laws guiding the establishment of the Kenya Transport Accident Investigation Bureau (KTAIB), a body mandated to strengthen the current architecture of accident investigations in Kenya.
"The Bureau is set to strengthen the ability of the Ministry to carry out investigations for land, sea, rail, air, and pipeline accidents in line with established modern practices in developed countries," he added.
Murkomen says he formed the investigation team on April 8, 2024, composed of experts who work both in and outside the Ministry.
"The decision to establish this team, whose report should be handed to my office in three months, was made way before the helicopter crash that claimed the life of Chief of Defence Forces General Francis Ogolla and other gallant soldiers, even though the gazettement date coincided with the crash," Murkomen added.
"For the avoidance of doubt, both international and domestic laws do not give civilians the authority to investigate accidents involving military aircraft. That is the preserve of military institutions, and in the case of Kenya, Kenya Defence Forces, (KDF). The Ministry-initiated investigations should not, therefore, be confused with the process being undertaken by KDF."
