General Ogolla as CDF is the one appointment I am most proud of - Ruto

President William Ruto now says elevating General Francis Ogolla to the country’s Chief of Defence Forces position last year is the best appointment he has made so far since assuming power.

President Ruto appointed General Ogolla to the position on April 28, 2023, replacing General Robert Kariuki Kibochi whose tenure had come to an end.

Speaking on Friday while mourning General Ogolla at his Riverside home following a chopper crash that claimed his life on Thursday, the Head of State said the late CDF had lived upto the billing and outdid himself in the role.

The President went as far as crediting General Ogolla with the reduced terrorist activity within the country in recent years, commending him for inspiring the service with his amiable leadership skills.

“If there is one appointment that I made that I am very proud of, it is that of General Ogolla, because he deserved the appointment. And he was a professional, a leader, and in the short time that he was our Chief of Defence, he made a big difference,” he said.

“The fact that over the last one and a half years we’ve had very minimal terrorist incidences in the country, is because General Ogolla was smart; he knew what to do and provided leadership. Late into the night he would call to brief and to get clearance. I must say I had a wonderful team at Defence headquarters, from the minister to all the actors, and General Ogolla was at the centre of it.”

President Ruto further recalled the fear that took over him the moment he was informed that Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale was on at the other end of a telephone call waiting to speak to him about a chopper incident involving General Ogolla.

He stated that when CS Duale eventually broke the bad news to him, he was filled with disbelief and insisted on verifying the information personally with senior officers on the ground at the crash site.

“When I was told the Defence CS was on the line, and the subject was about a plane crash, and the plane was carrying the CDF and other officers, when I took the phone I told Duale, please don’t tell me negative news,” he said.

“The bad news came, and it took me a while. But then I asked Duale to please call somebody on the ground, and he told me there was a Major and a Brigadier on the ground, and I wanted to speak to them because it was not easy to believe that General Ogolla was gone.”

President Ruto also spoke of the last conversation he had with General Ogolla earlier in the week before the fatal helicopter crash.

The conversation arose out of the President’s recent trip to West Pokot County where he said he had found various schools closed and learning activities halted due to the banditry menace.

When he returned to the capital, he said, he engaged General Ogolla on what could be done to remedy the situation and the CDF volunteered to personally visit the area and oversee the rehabilitation of the affected schools.

“I was with General Ogolla on Tuesday and we discussed many things, as is tradition between myself and him, and he had given me his itinerary of where he wanted to go on duty, all the way to mentioning to me that on Sunday he wanted to be at home in Siaya for the consecration of his home church, and also because his father was 100 years and they wanted to celebrate his life,” Ruto narrated.

“We must remind ourselves that General Ofgolla died on duty; responding to the cries of women and children who suffered at the hands of bandits and cattle rustlers. When I came from West Pokot about 10 days ago, the people had asked me that they had 5 schools that had been closed because of insecurity. I asked General Ogolla what are we going to do? He told me he would reorganize his budget, provide for Ksh.30 million and go himself to supervise the construction of those schools. That is how much General Ogolla believed in the country.”