Posted on 06/10/2012 7:51:38 PM PDT by Hunton Peck
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Kenya's internal security minister was killed with five other people when the police helicopter they were traveling in crashed in a forest near Kenya's capital, officials said. An anti-corruption crusader said the incident calls into question the government's procurement of airplanes and helicopters for its security forces.
Internal Security Minister George Saitoti and his deputy, Orwa Ojode, were among the six killed in the Sunday crash, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka said. Two pilots and two bodyguards also died in the crash, officials said.
Kenya's government declared three days of mourning for the crash victims.
The death of Saitoti is a "great tragedy that has befallen our country at this time as we are making elaborate preparations to hold peaceful elections," Prime Minister Raila Odinga said at the scene of the crash, a forest in the city's outskirts.
It was not immediately clear what caused the accident. Kenyan police cordoned off the scene of the crash and said they were investigating. Rescue officials collected the charred and scattered remains of those killed.
"As we speak now, nobody knows the cause of the accident," Odinga said. "Nobody knows, and that's why the experts are going to carry out investigations." He said that Saitoti and Ojode were on their way to a political event in western Kenya.
Saitoti, an American-trained economist and mathematician, was one of the most visible figures in Kenyan politics. For over a decade he was a deputy to former President Daniel arap Moi.
As security minister he was the government's spokesman on security matters, including Kenya's decision to send troops to Somalia last year. Analysts say he played a key role in that decision. Saitoti appeared often on national television to reassure the public in the aftermath of deadly attacks blamed on the Somali militant...
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
Kenyan loose ends?
Is Saitoti muslim or christian?
My thoughts exactly.
Probably carrying Obi’s Kenyan birth certificate on board.
Last time there was a plane crash involving African leaders it lead to the Rwandan Holocaust.
I’m sure there’ll be someone along who knows all about this, but all I can do is conclude that he was a Christian, based on the fact that a Muslim group is openly exulting in his death.
well, lets send them our Kenyan in the white house.
Saw this on the FOX crawler earlier today...Any significance to the people who died?
Making room at the top for the One.
Obamacide?
Odinga said that four years ago on the very same day, two Kenyan Cabinet ministers who were his close allies died in a plane crash.
Apparently, one of the deceased has left me the sum of 23,000,000 US.
For what it’s worth:
From 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7068055.stm
Odinga: Kenya’s king-maker
Excerpts:
...”During his long political career, he has been in and out of a veritable alphabet soup of political parties.
His critics call him a “party-wrecker”, who would do anything to achieve his political ambition.
He ran for office against former President Daniel arap Moi in 1997.
Although he trailed in third, that 1997 run secured for Mr Odinga a national profile from which to launch his future presidential bid.”...
...”Raila, a mechanical engineer by profession, was accused of plotting a coup against President Moi in 1982, charged with treason and detained without trial for six years before fleeing to Norway in 1991.
But he returned the following year to join his father’s new party, the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (Ford).
On Jaramogi Odinga’s death, Raila challenged Michael Wamalwa Kijana for the leadership of Ford-Kenya and lost, so left to join the National Development Party (NDP).
After the 1997 elections he merged his NDP with Kanu but was passed over for the Kanu leadership and formed the Rainbow Movement in protest.
The Rainbow Movement went on to join the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and then to form the ODM.”...
...”His supporters say Mr Odinga is fearless and can be the hands-on president Kenya needs to mend the decades of misrule.
But his detractors say he is a dictator in the making, who will shove aside anyone who does not toe the line.”...
ALSO:
From 2008:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1574963/Im-Barack-Obamas-cousin-says-Raila-Odinga.html
I’m Barack Obama’s cousin says Raila Odinga
An Odinga rival in next election, who was behind attacks on Somali Islamists, killed in helicopter crash...
quote
Al-Shabab, in a message sent from its official Twitter account, welcomed “the death of the evil minister,” saying Saitoti was “Better off dead!” The militant group blamed him for the suffering of Muslims in Somalia and Kenya.”
“Saitoti played a prominent role in overseeing the abduction, torture and imprisonment of hundreds of innocent Muslims in his war against Islam,” al-Shabab tweeted.
Johnnie Carson, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs, said during a visit to Kenya on Sunday that Kenya “has lost one of its most outstanding public servants.” He called the loss a great tragedy and said the U.S. extended its condolences.
Saitoti announced last year that he would seek the Kenyan presidency in 2013.
Odinga said that four years ago on the very same day, two Kenyan Cabinet ministers who were his close allies died in a plane crash.
end quote
I don’t understand the crash. Their Aviation Minister personally built the aircraft...
“Kenyan Builds True Scratchbuilt Aircraft Scratchbuilt Aircraft
October 13, 2010 — Gabriel Nderitu hardly lacks enthusiasm and ingenuity, and he will need all of that if his scratchbuilt aircraft is to become the first homebuilt to fly in Kenya. The aircraft is indeed “homebuilt” as it looks like it was assembled from parts of other vehicles and machinery. Nderitu says he has had a passion for aviation since he was a boy; with no prior training in engineering or aviation, he built his own design after six months of intensive research on the Internet.”
http://www.eaa.org/news/2010/2010-10-13_scratchbuilt.asp
Saitoti has always been someone standing just behind the “throne”, or next to it. Power & influence through several decades, IIRC.
Kenyan politics has an element of Muslim vs “Christian”, but at it’s heart is tribalism. That tribalism can fall into the Muslim or Christian camp, but one’s tribe is the most important.
It is not wise to try to build a team, whether in business, politics or church, with both Kikuyu and Luo.
Police at the scene said the crash occurred at about 8.30am soon after the helicopter took off from the city’s Wilson Airport. Those on board were heading to Homa Bay for a church service.
Yes, it is the policy of 0dinga and his cousin in the Oval Office to deal with loose ends..
Thanks. That is what I suspected — Odinga consolidating his power, I guess.
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