Ruto Reflects The Events That Made Him Appoint Gen Ogolla As CDF

President William Ruto reveals the events that led to the appointment of General Francis Ogolla as Chief of Defence Forces.

When it came time for me to make a decision on the next CDF, it was not an easy decision as it should; it’s always a decision of many balances. All the recommendations I got on the next CDF, and all the advice I got did not include Ogolla’s name, unfortunately, but he was a military officer with a distinguished career.

There was only one problem, the events of August 15, 2022, at the Bomas of Kenya and so I asked Ogolla for a meeting and had a one-on-one, man-to-man, come-to-Jesus meeting with him and when we concluded the meeting he said the following ‘Mr President I have no defence. I will not try to defend myself, it was wrong what happened and you have three choices, either send me to Court Martial, have me retire or forgive me.’

I went home after that meeting and I reflected on what General Ogolla had told me and in that reflection, I thought of my own ICC conspiracy story and my own episode at the ICC in Hague where certain circumstances had conspired and I was there.

Secondly, I also reflected on the brief I had been given when I came to office as President and I was told there are 4 sensitive positions, that of IG police, Interior, NIS and CDF.

I had been told you have to be careful who you appoint to these offices because they mean a lot and are very sensitive.

I had even been told that please don’t be shy to appoint members of your community, you will be safe. I had made a conscious deliberate decision that we were going to take a different trajectory as a country where merit, professionalism and competence must come before ethnicity and I made up my mind that General deserved to be the Chief of the Defence Forces of Kenya.