Kenyan crash probe team commence sittings Monday

Kenyan crash probe team commence sittings Monday Written By:Rosalia Opondo,    Posted: Sun, Jul 01, 2012

The helicopter crashed three weeks ago in Ngong forest The Commission appointed to investigate the June10th Ngong helicopter crash begins its sittings Monday. The 13- member team headed by Court of Appeal Judge Justice Kalpana Rawal, has been mandated to identify the possible causes of the crash.  The helicopter crashed three weeks ago killing Internal Security minister the late Prof. George Saitoti and his deputy Orwa Ojode. The inquiry comes against the backdrop of a storm in parliament last week over the slow manner in which the government has handled the issue. The thirteen member team includes local and international experts from the aviation and transport sectors, as well as lawyers for the families of the deceased. However, MPs expressed fury over alleged government frustration of the foreign investigators, which forced them to leave the country last week, for lack of facilitation. MPs even claimed the two ministers were victims of drug barons. Meanwhile the technical team of the Aviation Society of Kenya (ASK) has distanced itself from the speculations.  Speaking during the association's annual general meeting in Nairobi, association chairperson Wariaro Onyango urged Kenyans to wait patiently for the outcome of the probe. Besides Saitoti and Ojode, the crash claimed the lives of four other officers: Their bodyguards Joshua Tonkei and Thomas Murimi and pilots Nancy Gituanja and Luke Oyugi . The Internal Security docket left vacant by Saitoti, has since been filled by Defence Minister Yusuf Haji in an acting capacity. Last Friday, the government called for restraint in speculating over what caused the helicopter crash that killed the six in Ngong. Acting minister for Provincial Administration and Internal Security Yusuf Haji said any information relating to the incident should be channeled to the Commission of Inquiry into the crash. Haji said the commission has been fully facilitated to the conduct its investigations.