President William Ruto has revealed why he appointed Interior PS Raymond Omollo and Chief of the Defence Forces (CDF) Francis Omondi Ogolla to the powerful positions.
Speaking in Homa Bay County on Saturday at the homecoming ceremony of Omollo, Ruto said he appointed the two to the positions to demonstrate that there are no seats reserved for certain regions which voted overwhelmingly for the government.
He said many thought the position of PS for Interior would go to the region that voted for him in large numbers.
“I deliberately appointed the young man because I wanted to break the jinx that, always, these positions belong to certain places,” the President explained.
He added that Kenyans have never known that even those from the regions which never voted for the government in power can get senior state jobs.
Ruto further explained that when he got the opportunity to appoint the Chief of the Defence Forces, he picked Ogolla because of his competence and also because he is from the Nyanza region.
“I wanted to demonstrate to the people on Nyanza that they too belong to this country and they too deserve any position that they can merit,” he stated.
In April, Ruto promoted Lieutenant General Ogolla to the rank of General and appointed him Chief of the Defence Forces (CDF) for a four-year term in new military changes.
In a statement on April 28, the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) said the Head of State had picked Ogolla to replace General Robert Kariuki Kibochi, whose term of service has come to an end after a successful 44-year career in the military.
Ogolla, who comes from the Kenya Air Force, had been earmarked to take over the CDF post in line with Tonje Rules.