On Wednesday 29th May, Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale declared a new policy that will see all politicians barred from accessing services of military assets including Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) helicopters.
For a long time now, the KDF helicopters have been at the disposal of top-ranking officials in government as they traversed the country to conduct their political activities.
In a sit-down on Citizen TV, the CS said that the choppers will maintain their mandates, which are to carry soldiers and safeguard the country.
“We have now a policy in KDF, we are not going to carry politicians at all. I mean helicopters are meant for specific functions within KDF,” he said.
“They are part and parcel of the assets we have in safeguarding the country. They carry our troops, go to operations so not only helicopters but all our assets, going forward.”
CS Duale clarified that there are some government officials who have been exempted from the policy, including CS Kithure Kindiki when carrying out operations in the North Rift region or any unsecured areas.
“When I’m going for an operation, I’ll use military assets. Even my colleague CS for Interior, if he’s going to the North Rift or a place that is not secure, he will also use our assets,” Duale revealed.
Regarding the probe on the helicopter that killed Chief Of Defence Forces (CDF) Francis Ogolla, Duale revealed that a team responsible for investigation reports had flown to the US to meet with the aircraft manufacturer.
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“As the President has promised the country, we will avail a very detailed report. Our teams are now in the US and have gone with all the parts and once all that information is collected and recommendations are given to us, we will tell the country if it was mechanical or anything else,” he added.
He further dismissed claims that Kenya’s military assets are in bad condition for use. He shared that he had severally used the same military chopper that killed CDF Ogolla.
“I used the aircraft that killed Ogolla a number of times…more than 15 times. Prof Kindiki, IG Koome all used it. We used it when we were going to operational areas. It’s a very unique machine that can fly at night. Our troops use it in very difficult terrain.”
