Ruto must walk the talk on extra-judicial killings
By Suba Churchill, May 3, 2024
The military helicopter crash that claimed the lives of Chief of Defense Forces (CDF), General Francis Omondi Ogolla in North Rift region on April 18, 2024 alongside nine other officers put President William Ruto in an awkward situation.
General Ogolla had barely served for a year, having been appointed on April 28 the previous year after being promoted from Lieutenant General.
Though the crash claimed the lives of other senior officers, it is General Ogolla’s death that quickly became fodder for speculation for a number of reasons. Firstly, while a few military officers had been involved in nearly similar crashes before, it was the first time that a CDF was involved in such a tragic crash.
Secondly, and perhaps more important, are the circumstances leading to the appointment of General Ogolla as CDF. It has since emerged that as Vice-Chief of Defense Forces then, General Ogolla had been assigned by his boss, General Robert Kariuki Kibochi to be part of a National Security Council (NSC) team that former elections boss Wafula Chebukati claims to have attempted to force him to declare Azimio La Umoja candidate Raila Odinga as the winner of the 2022 presidential elections or force a run-off.
Thirdly, and closely related to the aforementioned is the equipment and locality of the crash. The Constitution mandates President Ruto to be the Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Forces, an age-old tradition that traces its origins to the pursuit of true unification and balance of civilian and military authority with the head of State as the most suitable fulcrum around which the three arms of the military – the Army, the Air Force and the Navy find balance.
The military helicopter crashed at the Kaben-Cheptulel boarder between Elgeyo Marakwet and West Pokot counties in the North Rift, a region notorious for banditry that had necessitated the visit by General Ogolla and team.
As President Ruto presided over the launch of a clinker plant in West Pokot County on April 8, local leaders appealed for his intervention to rebuild schools that had been damaged by bandits.
In response the President directed the military to rebuild the affected schools ahead of reopening in May.
By the time of the crash, the General’s team had accomplished a lot, starting with schools in Baringo County before proceeding northwards to the Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Kainuk, Turkana County for a briefing by a multi-agency team.
It was while on the last lap to the Recruits Training School (RTS) in Uasin Gishu County, immediately after take-off in Elgeyo Marakwet County that the helicopter crashed, killing all but two of the occupants.
This convergence of unfortunate circumstances fomented a fertile ground for speculation.
President Ruto has since acquitted himself well, assuring that far from what the public thinks, he and Ogolla had long buried the hatchet At Ogolla’s burial, the President assured restive mourners and the country that investigations into the crash would be made public, declaring that “no assassinations and extra-judicial killings would happen under my watch”.
Barely a week later, ‘Missing Voices’, a coalition of human rights organizations campaigning to end police killings has published its 2023 annual report that runs counter to Ruto’s avowals. It reveals that 128 people were killed or forcefully disappeared in 2023 , with State security agencies to blame.
To ensure no more extra-judicial killings happen calls for a clear chain of command over all officials responsible for apprehension, arrest, detention, custody and imprisonment, as well as those authorized by law to use force and firearms.
Persons deprived of liberty must be held in officially recognized places, and accurate information on their whereabouts promptly made available to their relatives, lawyer or other persons of confidence.
There should also be thorough, prompt and impartial investigation of all suspected cases of extra-judicial, arbitrary and summary executions.
—The writer is the Executive Director of the Kenya National Civil Society Centre
—suba_churchill@yahoo.com