President Ruto Deploys General Ogolla to Civilian Duties Barely Days Following Major Military Shakeup

President William Samoei Ruto on Friday appointed the Chief of Defence Forces General Francis Ogolla to a new semi-civilian government position just days after a major shakeup in the leadership of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).

The appointment designates General Ogolla as  Chairman of the Presidential Taskforce on the Development of Kenya Home of Human Origins Museum and Science Park in the Lake Turkana Basin Steering Committee.

The appointment of CDF Ogolla comes close in the heels of a major shake up in the KDF leadership that saw Vice-Chief of Defence Forces Lieutenant General Jonah Mwangi go into retirement and a new person named in his place.

Kenya Army Commander Liutenant General Peter Mbogo Njiru also went into retirement and Liutenant General Tarus was named to replace him.

The Kenya Navy Commander was promoted to Vice-Chancellor, National Defence College and a new replacement was named.

General Francis Ogolla took over the helm of KDF leadership following his promotion to the rank of a full general by the head of state in the face of the retirement of then General Robert Kibochi.

Meanwhile insider reports indicate that President Ruto advisors were against the elevation of General Ogolla to the helm of KDF leadership on the grounds that he walked into the Bomas of Kenya with an aim of overturning Ruto’s win in the August 9, 2022 Presidential Elections.

In May 2023 President Ruto in a press briefing clarified that his appointment of Ogolla was on humanitarian grounds and he was not responding to any demands of military traditions as the media had earlier claimed.

General Ogolla and the other three senior service commanders were soon due for retirement, anyway, and the team close to President Ruto may have found the opportunity ripe for a shakeup.

Retired General Ogolla is now the highest ranking military commander in Kenya to come from the Lake Region. He walks in the footprints of another military great Brigadier Opande who was denied the opportunity to lead the military by two consecutive regimes simply because he was Luo.

Brigadier Opande was, however, given the distinction of a four-star General with regular appointments to head international missions even when he was denied the opportunity at home.

In one affidavit sworn by former Independent and Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairman Wafula Chebukati, General Ogolla is said to have been part of a mission that included Raphael Tuju and Amos Wako that attempted to alter the outcome of the 2022 presidential election results.

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