George Saitoti’s Final Journey: What Happened Before the Fatal 2012 Helicopter Crash?
On June 10, 2012, Saitoti died alongside his assistant minister, Orwa Ojode, two bodyguards, and two pilots when their police Eurocopter crashed into the Kibiku Forest in Ngong, shortly after taking off from Wilson Airport.
On a chilly Sunday morning of June 10, 2012, a police helicopter, a Eurocopter AS-350 model carrying two key public figures crashed.
The helicopter was carrying the then Internal Security minister George Saitoti and his assistant Orwa Ojode.
The country was thrown into mourning following news the two had perished after the helicopter crashed and exploded on impact.
They died alongside two pilots and two bodyguards on their way to a Harambee in Ndhiwa, Homa Bay county.
Investigations later revealed the crash, deep inside Kibiko forest, happened shortly after 9 am, just ten minutes after taking off from Wilson Airport.
On the controls were Captain Luke Oyugi and Nancy Gituanja.
Saitoti had reportedly received threats, and there were claims of poisoning in the weeks prior. The Commission of Inquiry raised questions about the helicopter’s maintenance and operational integrity but offered no definitive answers.
A day after Saitoti made public the identities of the accused drug cartels, on June 10, 2012, he was scheduled to go with his assistant minister of internal security, Orwa Ojode, to a church fundraising event in Ndhiwa, Homabay County.
They boarded a Eurocopter AS350 helicopter, but little did they know that the night before the travel, the Pilot’s schedule had been changed, and he was now supposed to travel with junior pilots.
Earlier he was supposed to travel with senior pilots led by Rogers Mbithi and Captain Rogers Kuto.Junior Pilots Nancy Gituanja and Luke Oyugi were called in the middle of the night while they were on retreat in a club called Dambusters’ instructing them to report on duty the following morning.
Tragically, the helicopter crashed in Kibiku Forest, Ngong Hills, killing all six occupants: two pilots (Nancy Gituanja and Luke Oyugi), two bodyguards, inspector of police Joshua Tonkei, and a police officer by the name Thomas Murimi.
