The body of Captain Alex Oluka, the 25-year-old pilot who perished in a plane crash in Kipeto, Kajiado, has been airlifted home to western Kenya as his family and community prepare to lay him to rest.
Oluka, who hailed from Kolait Village in Moding, Teso North Constituency, Busia County, was flown from Nairobi to Matulo Airstrip in Webuye on the afternoon of October 8, 2026.
Family members, friends and mourners who had travelled by bus and car gathered at the airstrip to receive him and accompany his remains on the final leg of the journey home.
The Young Captain’s Final Journey
From Matulo, the body was transported to Delight Funeral Home before a convoy set off towards Busia County. As the procession wound its way into Teso, residents lined the roadsides in large numbers, many of them wailing as they watched the young man return home in a coffin.
The scene carried the air of a communal farewell, with mourners forming a corridor on either side of the road as the convoy passed through.
The decision to air-lift Oluka’s remains was driven by a wish from his family and relatives to honour the aviation career he had worked so hard to build, and which ultimately cost him his life.
A Career Cut Short Just Weeks After Graduation
Oluka had graduated from the Kenya School of Flying on August 22, 2026, just 27 days before his death.
His performance at graduation was exceptional enough to earn him an immediate appointment as a flight instructor, a role he had barely begun when tragedy struck.
On September 18, 2026, he was conducting a routine training flight with a student pilot over the hilly terrain near Kipeto, Kajiado, when the aircraft came down. Both men on board were killed in the crash. He was 25 years old.
