BY: Rebecca Odhiambo
A TikTok video posted on June 15, 2026, by @jimmywatumaini claims that Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Interior and National Administration Kipchumba Murkomen was recently involved in a near-fatal helicopter crash. The post attracted 545.1K views, 27.5k likes, 1026 comments, 1729 saves and 1305 shares at the time of review.
The video shows a news bulletin with the lower third banner reading: “AJALI YA NDEGE ELDAMA RAVINE: Walikuwa wanahudhuria mazishi Eldama Ravine, Baringo.” Which translates to; Helicopter accident in Eldama Ravine: They were attending a funeral in Eldama Ravine, Baringo. The head text reads “CS Murkomen Nearly Died in a Helicopter Accident” while the footage shows Murkomen speaking during what appears to be a televised news report by Citizen TV. The clip portrays the event as a fresh, breaking news disaster.
The account regularly shares sensationalised political and crime-related clips alongside everyday rural content, often using dramatic captions and breaking-news-style framing to drive engagement.
BACKGROUND
Kipchumba Murkomen is Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration. Before his appointment to the Cabinet, he served as Senator for Elgeyo Marakwet County and has held several senior government positions, making him one of the country’s most recognisable political figures.
The incident referenced in the video is linked to Eldama Ravine, a town located in Baringo County in Kenya’s Rift Valley region. Eldama Ravine serves as one of the county’s major urban centres and lies along a key transport corridor connecting parts of Baringo, Nakuru and Elgeyo Marakwet counties.
According to Citizen TV reports, Murkomen was travelling aboard a Bell 407 helicopter together with Kenya Airports Authority Chairman Caleb Kositany and several other occupants. The group had attended a funeral in the Mwachon area of Eldama Ravine before continuing with their journey.
Helicopter accidents involving senior political figures often attract significant public attention in Kenya due to the country’s history of high-profile aviation tragedies. One of the most notable cases occurred in June 2012 when then Internal Security Minister George Saitoti and Assistant Minister Orwa Ojode died in a helicopter crash in Ngong Forest alongside four other occupants. The tragedy remains one of the most significant aviation accidents involving senior government officials in Kenya’s history.
More recently, Kenya witnessed another high-profile aviation tragedy involving senior state officials when the then Chief of the Defence Forces, Francis Omondi Ogolla, died alongside nine military officers in a Kenya Defence Forces helicopter crash in April 2024. The helicopter crashed due to an engine malfunction during an official tour of the North Rift region, prompting a national period of mourning and investigations into the cause of the crash. The incident renewed public attention on aviation safety involving senior government and military leaders.
Because of this history, reports or social media claims involving aircraft incidents and prominent political leaders frequently generate public interest and scrutiny.
VERIFICATION
A Google reverse image search using the frame of the crashed helicopter (registration 5Y-PKI) and the imagery directly matched archived journalistic records from publications such as The Star, Daily Nation and Citizen Digital. Their publications reported that the helicopter had experienced difficulties while lifting off from the Mwachon area and crash-landed shortly afterwards. Hence, the visual tracking indicates that this event happened on Saturday, March 9, 2024, proving the video is not a current event.
Screengrabs of Google lens reverse image search results tracking the video to its original date of occurrence, March 9, 2024
Baringo County Police Commander, Joseph Ongoya told journalists that the aircraft appeared to have lost power before the crash landing, and no fatalities or injuries were reported, according to The Standard. On the same day, Murkomen publicly confirmed that all occupants were safe and continued with their journey, as reported by Citizen Digital.
Additionally, a review of Murkomen’s official social media pages found no evidence of a recent helicopter accident involving the Cabinet Secretary. Had such an incident occurred in 2026, it would likely have been acknowledged through his official channels and extensively covered by mainstream media. Instead, available records point to the March 2024 helicopter mishap, from which he emerged unhurt.
Further examination of Citizen TV’s recent news coverage found no evidence that the station had reported a helicopter accident involving CS Kipchumba Murkomen. Rather, the footage featured in the clip can be traced to an archived Citizen TV report broadcast on March 9, 2024. As a result, the claim is based on outdated footage that has been recirculated as though it depicts a recent incident.
VERDICT
The claim that Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen was recently involved in a near-fatal helicopter crash is MISLEADING.
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