[afro-nets] Kenya: politicians killed on way to peace conference

[Leela McCullough <leela@healthnet.org>]

Kenya: Politicians killed on way to peace conference
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[We extend our condolences to the people and government of Kenya
on this great loss.]

Copied as fair use

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has declared
three days of national mourning after a military plane carrying
politicians to a peace conference crashed while attempting to
land during bad weather, killing at least 14 people, including
two assistant Cabinet ministers.

Four of the 17 people on the plane were pulled from the fiery
wreckage alive on Monday and flown to Nairobi for treatment,
witnesses said. But one survivor died on the way.

The plane crashed into a hill near Marsabit, 280 miles (450
kilometers) northeast of Nairobi. The politicians on board were
heading to a conference intended to ease tribal tensions along
the Ethiopian border, Parliamentary Speaker Francis ole Kaparo
told a news conference.

"This is the worst tragedy to hit the National Assembly," Kaparo
said with tears in his eyes. "We have lost a lot of very good
people in this crash."

He said Minister for Youth Affairs Mohammed Kuti was among the
dead, but Minister for Foreign Affairs Raphael Tuju and govern-
ment spokesman Alfred Mutua insisted that Kuti was not on the
plane.

Both men said the other victims included assistant minister for
internal security Mirugi Kariuki; assistant minister for re-
gional development authorities Titus Ngoyoni; and the deputy
leader of the opposition KANU party, Bonaya Godana.

Another passenger was Abdullahi Adan, a Kenyan member of the
East African Legislative Assembly and a retired army general un-
der former President Daniel arap Moi, Kaparo added. The East Af-
rican Legislative Assembly includes lawmakers from Kenya, Tanza-
nia and Uganda.

Kaparo said he would adjourn parliament Tuesday until the dead
lawmakers were buried.

Kibaki issued a statement expressing "shock and concern" over
the crash.

"It is unfortunate that this tragedy occurred while the peace
delegation was on its way to a crucial meeting to bring peace
and harmony to the communities," Kibaki said.

The Ministry of Defense said in a statement that 17 people, in-
cluding crew members, were on the Chinese-built, Y-12 twin-
engine cargo plane when it crashed.

"Initial investigative reports of the Marsabit air crash indi-
cate that the Y-12 military airplane may have crashed due to
poor visibility caused by bad weather," Mutua said in a state-
ment.

Police also said the crash appeared to be an accident.

Four people were pulled from the fiery wreckage alive, but one
of them died in an air ambulance while flying to Nairobi, Tuju
said.

Godana was among the most prominent of the lawmakers. He was a
former Cabinet minister who served as foreign affairs and agri-
culture minister in Moi's administration between 1997 and 2002.

In July, unknown assailants killed scores of people in Marsabit,
including at least two dozen children in a school, provoking re-
taliatory attacks between members of different tribes and rais-
ing tensions along the border with Ethiopia.

Since then, there have been efforts to ease tensions.

In January 2003, a plane carrying four Cabinet ministers crashed
in western Kenya, killing one minister and the two pilots. A
public inquiry into the crash recommended no more than three
Cabinet ministers or senior government officials should travel
on the same flight for security reasons.

The report also said many airstrips in the country were poorly
maintained and the government did not allocate enough money for
repair and maintenance.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redis-
tributed.

--
Leela McCullough, Ed.D.
Director of Information Services

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