By ALLY JAMAH
A set of “mysterious puzzles” preceded the copter crash that killed Internal Security Minister George Saitoti and his deputy Orwa Ojode, the Commission of Inquiry probing the incident heard.
The lawyer representing the family of Saitoti, Fred Ngatia, wondered why the there was a “mysterious flight” by the Commandant of the Kenya Police Airwing Rodgers Mbithi to an unknown destination the day before the tragic crash.
While cross-examining the Quality Manager of the Police Airwing Senior Superintendent Maurice Ouma, Mr Ngatia said the flight by Mr Mbithi was not fully disclosed in the records.
According to flight records presented Wednesday at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, the commandant did not indicate the destination of his flight or his time of return.
The Commission headed by Judge Kalpana Rawal heard that the commandant was airborne for 50 minutes with the Eurocopter that crashed in Kibiku forest in Ngong on June 10.
Ngatia wondered if Mbithi’s flight was linked to a record that showed a day before the crash, the plane was prepared for flying.
That entry was made by a Mr Mulinge, one of the Engineers responsible for refueling of the helicopter. The entry was then crossed out.
Asked to account for the oversight in disclosing details about of the flight, Ouma, who is one of the two senior supervisors in the Engineering Department, declined to answer the question, saying it should be directed to Mbithi.
“Doesn’t it bother you that there is such casualness in your documentation as to raise eyebrows on what the police Airwing was up to a few days before the crash,” asked Ngatia.
Ouma replied: “It bothers me but there is an officer who is specifically in charge of maintaining the technical records of flights.”
Mbithi is expected to appear before the Commission to shed light on his flight.
Another puzzle was reports of a mysterious VIP helicopter that took off moments after Saitoti and his team were airborne to Ndhiwa.
But Ouma said he did not see the other plane despite being on the runway. Ngatia also wondered why the two top Government officials were not piloted by Mbithi and other senior pilots who had more flying hours and experience with the Eurocopter.
On Thursday, the Chief Engineer of the Police Airwing is expected to shed more light on how his team did maintenance work on the helicopter even before they had been approved by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority.
