President Ruto has for the first time disclosed the difficult discussion he had with General Francis Ogolla just before promoting him as the Chief of Defense Forces (CDF).
President William Ruto has recalled his discussion with General Ogolla about the latter’s involvement in a plot to overturn his victory.
Ruto delved into Gen Ogolla’s participation in the Bomas incidents, in which high-ranking government officials sought to overturn the outcome of the August 2022 presidential election.
In an interview with local media outlets about the economy and a variety of other matters pertaining to his administration, Ruto revealed that General Francis Ogolla apologized for his action, claiming he had no defence and that the president should do with him as he pleased.
“I spoke to General Ogolla; yes, he may have made a mistake, and maybe he was instructed by the Commander-in-Chief to do what he did.
General Ogolla told me that ‘I have no defence; you do with me what you please. ‘What I did was wrong, and I have no defence at all. You do with me what you want,” Ruto disclosed.
William Ruto: I appointed General Ogolla, he is among the people who went to Bomas to try and overturn my victory. But when I looked at his CV, he was the best person to be General. I made the decision consciously; I made the decision against the advice of many people #ThePlan pic.twitter.com/IQWgq2clv4
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) May 14, 2023
Despite opposing his presidency, Ruto said he assessed Ogolla’s background and came to the conclusion that he was the best candidate for the CDF position.
The president defended his promotion of Ogolla as CDF, saying it demonstrates his preference for merit over tribal affiliation.
“I am so conscious that since independence, nobody from Nyanza has ever been a CDF, it also played in my mind that I don’t want a situation where a community thinks that they can’t occupy a certain office,” he said.
“I had 10 choices; I could have appointed anybody. I decided against the advice of many people; they told me you should not reward this kind of behavior,” he said.
Electoral controversy
Some security pundits had written off Gen Ogolla’s ascendance to the CDF position over his prominent role in 2022 succession politics.
Gen Francis Ogolla became embroiled in the electoral controversy between President Ruto and his main rival, Raila Odinga, in the run-up to the August 2022 elections.
Wafula Chebukati, the chairman of the electoral commission, claimed that Gen Francis Ogolla was among high-ranking members of the National Security Advisory Council (NSAC) and associates of Raila who visited him in an effort to persuade him to overturn William Ruto’s victory.
READ ALSO: Gen Francis Ogolla Biography: Tribe, Age and Place of Birth
However, Gen Ogolla is not recorded to have said anything during the visit in the ensuing affidavits by Chebukati and IEBC Commissioner Abdi Guliye.
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