{"id":29031,"date":"2024-04-19T09:02:57","date_gmt":"2024-04-19T09:02:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2024\/04\/19\/eac-leaders-mourn-cdf-ogolla-after-chopper-crash\/"},"modified":"2024-04-19T09:02:57","modified_gmt":"2024-04-19T09:02:57","slug":"eac-leaders-mourn-cdf-ogolla-after-chopper-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/eac-leaders-mourn-cdf-ogolla-after-chopper-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"EAC leaders mourn CDF Ogolla after chopper crash"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 19-Leaders drawn from the East African Community region have joined the rest of the world in paying tribute to Kenya\u2019s military chief,<\/strong> <strong>Francis Ogolla, who perished alongside nine others following Thursday\u2019s helicopter crash in Elgeyo Marakwet\u2019s Keben area.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Somalia\u2019s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud conveyed his message of condolences to his Kenyan counterpart, William Ruto,, and Kenyans via a phone call.<\/p>\n<p>Villa Somalia said that president Mohamud expressed Somalia\u2019s support with Kenya as it mourns the departed soldiers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe [Mohamud] expressed his heartfelt sympathies to the families of General Francis Omondi Ogolla, the Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces, and the other military personnel who lost their lives,\u201d said Somalia\u2019s Presidency.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe President reiterated Somalia\u2019s support and solidarity with the Kenyan people during this difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In his tribute, Burundi\u2019s president, Evariste Ndayishimiye, said that the passing Ogolla \u201cis a profound sorrow felt beyond borders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His Tanzanian counterpart, Samia Suluhu, equally condoled with Kenyans and Ogolla\u2019s family following the crash.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI send my condolences to the President and the Commander-in-Chief of the Kenya Defense Forces, His Excellency William Ruto, and all Kenyans, families, relatives, relatives and friends of all those who lost their relatives in the accident. May Allah rest the souls of our brothers in heaven,\u201d Suluhu said.<\/p>\n<p>Other organs that have issued the message of condolences include the East African Community (EAC), The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).<\/p>\n<p>Foreign missions in Kenya, including the United States Embassy, British High Commission, Finnish Embassy, and Moroccan Embassy, also expressed solidarity with Kenya in its time of mourning.<\/p>\n<p>While confirming the incident, President Ruto described the crash which involved a Huey military helicopter, as \u201ca moment of great sadness for myself, as the Commander in Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces, the Kenya Defence Forces fraternity, and the nation at large.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>President Ruto declared three days of mourning the General and nine other victims on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>He ordered the lowering of national, regional, and regimental flags to half-mast from Friday.<\/p>\n<p>He described Gen Ogolla\u2019s death as \u201ca painful loss to me\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Ruto listed the nine officers who perished alongsidethe late General \u00a0Ogolla as; Brig Swaleh Said, Col Duncan Keitan Lt Col David Sawe, Maj George Magondu (Pilot), Capt Sorah Mohamed, CaptHillary Butali, Snr Sgt John Kinyua, Sgt Cliffonce Omondi, and Sgt Rose Nyawira.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 19-Leaders drawn from the East African Community region have joined the rest of the world in paying tribute to Kenya\u2019s military chief, Francis Ogolla, who perished alongside nine others following Thursday\u2019s helicopter crash in Elgeyo Marakwet\u2019s Keben area. Somalia\u2019s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud conveyed his message of condolences to his Kenyan counterpart, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29031\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}