2012 Kenya Police helicopter crash
Aviation accident
On 10 June 2012, an aviation accident occurred involving a Kenya Police helicopter. The Eurocopter AS350 crashed on a hill, killing all six people on board. Among the fatalities were Kenya's Interior Security Minister George Saitoti and his Assistant Minister Joshua Orwa Ojode.
Background
The aircraft was on a flight from Nairobi to Ratang’a village in Ndhiwa Constituency, Homa Bay County. The two ministers on board – Interior Security Minister George Saitoti, who had announced his intention to run for Kenya's presidency, and Assistant Minister Joshua Orwa Ojode – had planned to attend a fundraising event at the Nyarongi Catholic Church. The two were to attend a Mass, which was interrupted by the Homa Bay District Commissioner and the local police chief, who broke the news about the deaths to those awaiting their arrival, including the mother and other close relatives of Orwa Ojode.
Accident
The helicopter had departed Wilson Airport in Nairobi with a full complement of two senior Kenya Police officers as pilots and four passengers on board: the two government officials and two Kenya Police officers acting as their bodyguards. The last radio contact with the helicopter was five minutes after it departed Wilson Airport at 8:32 am local time; and the aircraft then disappeared from radar another five minutes later at 8:42 am. It had crashed into the Kibiku area of the Ngong Forest just outside Nairobi and caught fire. All six occupants were killed in the crash; the aircraft was completely destroyed by the accident, a post-crash fire burning the victims "beyond recognition".
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 1, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q2822709. Authority coordinates are -1.374, 36.639. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2012.
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