Rwanda, UN Mourn Jackson Musoni Killed in Ethiopian Airways Crash

There is outpouring of grief in Rwanda for Jackson Musoni who died in the Ethiopian Airways plane that crashed on Sunday morning from Addis Ababa enroute to the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

Personal friends, former schoolmates and colleagues took to social media to share their shock at his passing.

Many described his humility. Former teammates in the local rugby league praised his sportsmanship.

Musoni was working in the Sudan office of the UN refugees agency UNHCR.

Singer Meddy, who lives in the United States said Musoni is a childhood friend and they grew up together.

“My heart is much wounded. We used to take you as our role model when we were kids. Today I have looked back to the life we spent together like a family since our childhood till the time we became men,” said Meddy.

Uganda-based Rwandan model Judith Heard Kantegwa said Musoni was her classmate.

“Jackson sat with me on same school chair for five years. He helped me with homework and mathematics exams, and later became the family member I never had,” said Heard.

German Toily Kurbanov, the Deputy Executive Coordinator for UN Volunteers also recognized the deceased father of two.

Jackson Musoni was from Rwanda. He served in Sudan as UN volunteer helping refugees. This morning he was on [the crashed Ethiopian plane]. RIP. Please keep Jackson and his family and friends in your thoughts,” he said on Twitter.

There were many message from other UN colleagues.

Meanwhile, today Monday there was a moment of silence for the 157 crash victims inside the conference hall of UN environment conference in Nairobi.

Many of the dead were delegates coming for the conference.

World leaders including President Paul Kagame sent their condolences to the Ethiopian Prime Minister Any Ahmed and families of victims.