A day that began with hope was swiftly darkened by tragedy. Kenya awoke to the shocking news that its then Internal Security Minister, George Saitoti, and his assistant, Orwa Ojode, had perished in a horrific helicopter crash in Ngong.
The nation was plunged into mourning, grappling with the loss of not only two political leaders but also four other lives, in a blaze of fiery destruction. But do you know what really happened? Here’s the story:
The morning was cold, and a chilling mist hung in the air as the Eurocopter AS-350 police helicopter embarked on its journey from Wilson Airport to Ndhiwa in Homa Bay County. On board were George Saitoti, Orwa Ojode, two pilots, Captain Luke Oyugi, and Nancy Gituanja, and two police bodyguards, Inspector Joshua Tonkei and Sergeant Thomas Murimi. They were en route to a Harambee, a charity event that promised to bring much-needed support to the people of Ndhiwa.
The journey started like any other routine flight, but within ten minutes of takeoff, tragedy struck. Investigations later revealed that the helicopter, deep inside Kibiko forest, had exploded on impact, leaving a trail of wreckage and shattered lives in its wake. The nation’s heart shattered along with the aircraft.
Questions, doubts, and mysteries lingered in the aftermath of the crash. What had transpired during those ten minutes that led to the loss of lives and the helicopter itself? The nation yearned for answers.
DEBRIS: Youth from Kibiku area carry the remains of a police helicopter after it crashed killing Internal Security minister George Saitoti in June 2012. An inquiry into the crash says the chopper was acquired unprocedurally. Photo/File
To shed light on the incident, a commission of inquiry led by Justice Kalpana Rawal was established. The commission aimed to uncover the truth behind the tragedy, to provide closure to a grieving nation.
As the inquiry progressed, the details that emerged only deepened the enigma. Six minutes after takeoff, the helicopter had followed a normal trajectory. However, in a sudden and inexplicable turn of events, communication with the control tower at Wilson Airport had been severed.
For three long minutes before the helicopter’s fiery descent, there had been no pilot input, as if the hands guiding the craft had been rendered inert.
The commission explored several theories concerning the cause of the crash. Pilot error was among them, with the commission noting that Captain Oyugi and Nancy Gituanja may not have had enough experience to navigate through adverse weather conditions.
The inquiry also revealed a potential issue with the helicopter’s battery, suggesting it could have ignited the fire if overcharged.
But the most chilling revelation of all was the suspicion that George Saitoti might have been subjected to a nefarious plot. Government forensic pathologists, Dorothy Njeru and Amritpal Kalsi, presented their findings to the inquiry.
They disclosed that Saitoti’s body exhibited significant levels of carbon monoxide poisoning. The doctors described a telltale cherry-pink hue present in the internal organs, an indication of severe carbon monoxide poisoning.
Further probing by lawyer Fred Ngatia, representing the Saitoti family, unveiled that this poisoning had affected at least 30 percent of Saitoti’s blood and tissues.
Such a level of poisoning, it was explained, would typically result in drowsiness, fatigue, and disorientation.
Top Kenyan Official Killed in Helicopter Crash – The New York Times
The forensic experts dismissed a prior postmortem report by Dr. Johansen Oduor, a government forensic expert, which had failed to mention carbon monoxide poisoning and had instead suggested severe tissue injury as the cause of death.
A crucial piece of evidence came from Assistant Government Chemist Joyce Wairimu Njoya. Her tests on samples from Saitoti and Gituanja showed negative results, but Captain Oyugi’s samples indicated a startling 68.6 percent carbon monoxide poisoning.
This raised puzzling questions: how could Oyugi exhibit such high levels of gas poisoning while Gituanja, seated right next to him, showed no such poisoning?
Further intrigue emerged when traces of soot were found in the tracheas and respiratory systems of the deceased. This suggested that parts of the helicopter may have been on fire while the aircraft was still in the air.
The revelation gained credence when investigators found that the helicopter’s servicing, 200 hours after it was flown from South Africa, had been unsatisfactory.
Yet, even before the crash, George Saitoti had displayed signs of paranoia. He had revealed to Parliament just days before his death that there had been an attempt to poison him.
Two days prior to the crash, during an MPs’ function in Mombasa, he had refused to sleep in his assigned room and had instead booked into a different hotel.
The reasons for this behavior remained a mystery, but it painted a vivid picture of a man living on the edge, haunted by an unspoken fear. Saitoti had been scheduled to present a report to Parliament about an illegal drug trafficking syndicate in Kenya, and he intended to expose the names involved.
This revelation, along with his ambition to run for the presidency in the upcoming general election, cast a dark shadow over his untimely demise.