Emotions ran high as thousands of residents of Emurua Dikirr Constituency turned up for a requiem mass for five helicopter accident victims, including their Member of Parliament Johana Ng’eno.
The ceremony held at Emurua Dikirr Primary School grounds was characterised by tears, wailing and pushing by the thousands of mourners who braved torrential rainfall to have a glimpse of the sealed coffins that carried the bodies of their loved ones.
President William Ruto is expected to lead mourners in the final send-off of four victims of the February 28, 2026, helicopter crash at Chepkiep village in Mosop constituency, Nandi County.
The five bodies flown to Transmara in Narok County on Thursday in military helicopters are of Johana Ngeno (Emurua Dikirr MP), Nick Kosgei (photojournalist), Amos Kipngetich Rotich (an officer with the Kenya Forests Service), Carlos Robert Keter (a teacher) and Wycliff Kiprotich Rono, a protocol officer at the Narok county government.
George Were, the pilot of the ill-fated chopper, also died in the helicopter that went down shortly after take off at Chepkiep village, Nandi County, where it had made an emergency landing due to heavy rains and bad weather.
The victims were returning to Narok from Trans Nzoia where they had attended an empowerment event for a local musician.
Police were on Thursday reduced to bystanders in the requiem mass as hundreds of youths took charge of security in the ceremony that brought together several MPs and hundreds of residents.
Ngeno, one of the most vocal MP in Rift Valley, did not shy away from criticising President Ruto’s administration which he served under the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party.
Cabinet Secretary for Defense Soipan Tuiya, Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot, Senators – Hillary Sigei (Bomet), Jackson Mandago (Uasin Gishu), Women Representatives – Rebecca Tonkei (Narok), Linet Chepkorir (Bomet), Beatrice Kemei (Kericho) and Cynthia Muge (Nandi) and Narok North MP Agnes Pareiyo led several MPs and other leaders in the ceremony.
Leaders at the function called for an end to the speculation on the circumstances under which the helicopter crashed and instead wait for the report from aviation experts investigating the incident.
Ms Tuiya said the departed legislator was a focused and firm leader who put the interests of the people before his own.
“We should all focus on having the projects started by the departed MP whom I had the opportunity to serve with in Parliament while I was a Woman Representative and after I transitioned to the Cabinet while he also served as the chairperson of the Parliamentary committee on Housing,” Ms Tuiya said.
Sergeant-at-Arms load the casket bearing the body of the late Emurua Dikirr MP, Johana Ng’eno into a hearse at Mogondo Technical Training Institute on March 5, 2026 before it is taken to Dikirr for the second requiem mass.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation
Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot led MPs in calling for tolerance and respect during the burial, noting that Mr Ngeno was a symbol of unity and fought for the rights of the needy and oppressed in society.
Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi said: “Unfortunately, there are people who want to make political capital out of the tragedy when the families of the victims are devastated and yet to come to terms with the reality of losing their loved ones. Such greedy politicians should be told off.”
Dr Augustine Cheruiyot, an economic advisor of the President said Ngeno was a focused leader who spoke his mind irrespective of the circumstances at hand and the audience.
“I worked closely with the departed MP in local matters and I am aware that he had more than 500 students in university who were being supported under a bursary programme, had constructed several primary schools and six secondary schools from scratch, a Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) and Technical Training Institute,” Dr Cheruiyot said.
Dr Cheruiyot noted that the MP was pushing for the establishment of a university in Emurua Dikirr, and expressed confidence that it will be constructed by the current government so as to open up the region to investments.
Woman Representatives Beatrice Kemei (Kericho) and Cynthia Muge, Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago and President's Economic Advisor Dr Augustine Cheruiyot at Emurua Dikirr Technical Training Institute grounds, waiting for the bodies of area MP Johana Ngeno and four other chopper crash victims on March 5,2026.
Photo credit: Vitalis Kimutai | Nation Media Group
Only two of the bodies – that of MP Johana Ngeno and Wyliffe Kiprotich Rono (protocol officer at Narok county government) - will, by tradition of the Kalenjin community, be placed in the house overnight ahead of burial on Friday, as they were married.
However, the other three bodies of Nick Kosgei, Carlos Robert Keter and Amos Kipngetich Rotich, were kept at Kilgoris sub-County Hospital mortuary because they were unmarried.
On Friday, the bodies will be returned to Emurua Dikirr Primary School for the final service before being released to the families for burial.
