Saboti Member of Parliament Caleb Amisi has urged President William Ruto to prioritise advancing Kenya’s military hardware.

Taking to his official X account on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, Amisi stated that the treasury disbursement must be streamlined to prioritise the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) lawmaker who was reacting to a media report that had exposed the bad conditions of the KDF aircraft argued that the military have no power over the media and are neither trained to negotiate nor complain.

Potential belligerence

Amisi further argued that the country is highly exposed to potential belligerence with the current state of the military hardware.

“With such a sad state of our military hardware? We are highly exposed to potential belligerence. This is the neutron and the proton of the nation’s existence. Let’s be serious as a country.

“President Ruto, even if you have no agenda for this country, at least stop what you are doing and look at our military. Treasury disbursement must be streamlined to prioritise the force. They have no power over the media; they are not trained to negotiate nor complain. Geopolitically speaking, economic superiority and military power are tied at the hip,” Amisi stated.

Report on Ogolla’s death

This comes days after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) released a summary of its official report into the helicopter crash on April 18, 2024, that tragically killed the then Chief of the Defence Forces (CDF), General Francis O. Ogolla, and nine other military personnel.

The report, dated April 11, 2025, details the history of the ill-fated flight and the findings of the Board of Inquiry (BOI) and ultimately concludes that an engine malfunction was the cause of the crash.

According to the report, the Bell UH-1H-II (Huey) Helicopter KAF 1501 was carrying General Ogolla and 11 other individuals as part of a visit to troops under Operation Maliza Uhalifu in the North Rift counties.

The flight originated from Nairobi Wilson Airport, refuelled at Chesit, and proceeded to Kainuk and then Cheptulel Boys High School in Chesogon.

According to the MoD report, the helicopter took off from Cheptulel Boys High School at 2:22 pm en route to the Defence Forces Recruits Training School in Eldoret.

Shortly after departure, at approximately 2:20 pm, the Huey KAF 1501 crashed on a community farm near Cheptulel, catching fire upon impact.