The late Chief of Defence Forces, General Francis Ogolla.
General Francis Ogolla had his destiny tied to April. He joined the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) on April 24, 1984; was appointed the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) on April 28, 2023, and his death struck on April 17, 2024.
He was to celebrate 40 years in KDF on Wednesday, and also mark his first year as Kenya’s CDF next Sunday.
Military changes by President William Ruto in March this year placed Lieutenant-General Charles Muriu Kahariri as the senior-most officer at the Kenya Navy, the formation that was next in line to produce the CDF as per the famed "Tonje" rules.
Lt-Gen Kahariri was named the Vice Chief of Defence Forces in changes that saw some senior KDF officials retired and assigned various ambassadorial roles.
President William Ruto with the late Chief of Defence Forces General Francis Ogolla at the National Defence College in Karen on May 25, 2023.
The same Lt-Gen Kahariri also featured in military changes that President Ruto made in May 2023, just weeks after appointing General Ogolla as the CDF.
Before Lt-Gen Kahariri's promotion, Lt-Gen Jimson Mutai was the senior-most Navy official. In the March changes, Lt-Gen Mutai was appointed the vice-chancellor of the National Defence College.
President Ruto had defied reservations in his inner circle regarding making General Ogolla the top military man, given the occurrences around the presidential election in 2022.
As pleaded in a Supreme Court petition by the then chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, Mr Wafula Chebukati, General Ogolla -- then the vice CDF -- was in a team that attempted to force the electoral body to declare Azimio la Umoja candidate Raila Odinga as the winner or force a rerun.
However, when General Robert Kibochi was leaving, Dr Ruto chose to go with General Ogolla despite having “over 10 choices.”
“I appointed him on the dictates of the military traditions and order of doing things,” said Dr Ruto in a May 2023 interview. “I insisted on him because his experience justified his being given the job.”
General Ogolla took up his job with a plan to unify the formations of the military under a policy he called “One Force One Mission”.
“I have been able to elaborate on my vision which I crystallised with the phrase ‘One Force One Mission’ to bring everyone together to understand what our role is and to focus on the one mission we have to defend the sovereignty of the Republic of Kenya,” General Ogolla said in an interview in August 2023.
By December last year, he was showing signs of redefining the CDF position, through actions like attending civilian events and mentoring the young.
General Francis Ogolla during his swearing-in as the new Chief of Defence Forces at State House, Nairobi in April 2023.
When President Ruto toured Nyanza in October 2023, General Ogola hosted the Head of State at his home in Siaya County. The president had a meal there.
General Ogolla loved reading and golf. He told the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation in August last year that one of the pleasures he had to drop after his appointment include playing golf.
“I love to read and I used to love to play golf but the moment I was appointed Chief of Defence Forces, I more or less put my golf side aside and I said let me concentrate on this job wholeheartedly,” he said.
A brilliant mind who was educated to Master’s level, General Ogolla had defied his mother on the choice of career.
He told a gathering in Kisumu last year that in 1984, his mother came with a university calling letter and implored him not to join the military and instead pursue further studies.
However, he said, he had made up his mind to serve the country. He added that when he did his Master’s degree, he dedicated it to his mother.
General Ogolla was a graduate of ÉcoleMilitaire de Paris and National Defence College of Kenya.
He held a Diploma both in International Studies and Military Science from Egerton University, a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Armed Conflict and Peace Studies (first class honours) and Masters of Arts in International Studies from the University of Nairobi.
General Ogola is survived by his wife, Aileen, their two children and a grandchild.
President William Ruto with Chief of Defence Forces Francis Ogolla at a previous function.
On Thursday, his daughter Lorna Ogolla mourned the father saying that he was a pursuer of excellence and loved to protect his country.
“My father, pursuer of excellence, most empathetic and effective leader and statesman just went down in a chopper crash in West Pokot. Doing what he did best for the better part of the last 40 years - trying to keep Kenya Safe,” she posted on her official LinkedIn account.
“One day I shall tell beautiful stories of how he taught with his actions and not with his words. But today - I rush home to send him off to the great beyond,” she added.
Thursday's chopper crash which claimed the life of General Ogolla exposed the sorry state in which the Kenyan military choppers are in.
KDF has been doing badly in the Global Fire Power List as it is currently at position 89 compared to 2023 when it was ranked at position 87 out of 145 countries.
“For 2024, Kenya is ranked 89 out of 145 out of the countries considered for the annual GFP review. The nation holds a Power Index score of 1.7629 (a score of 0.0000 is considered perfect). This entry was last reviewed on January 8, 2024,” a statement on the ranking read.
It further elaborates that each nation is accessed on individual and collective values processed through an in house formula to generate its power index score. Some values are estimated when official numbers are not available.
There are five categories which are considered during the ranking and they include; manpower, airpower, land power, naval power and financials.
In this file picture, President Uhuru Kenyatta congratulates Major General Francis Ogolla after he took oath of office as Commander of Kenya Air Force at State House, Nairobi.
Manpower encompasses Active, Reserve, and any official paramilitary forces identified for the nation; personnel from each branch of service is included.
Airpower entails war-making aerial systems, excluding trainers and drones while land power includes; motorised/ mechanised vehicular elements as well as towed artillery and mechanised/ towed Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) systems.
For naval power, it includes; commissioned hulls ranging from blue water warships and submarines to brown water patrol assets (excluded for land-locked powers).
Financial average is the current financial health on the world stage while the scores given to each country are an average of related categories in the annual rankings.
Global military magazine, Jane’s Defence, also reveals that KDF has 14 Aerospatiale SA 330G transport helicopters and two Ukrainian-made choppers.
It is also listed as having Canadian De Havilland DHC Buffalo tactical planes that have been in the service since 1977, three Canadian Bombardier DHC Dash 8 and Fokker 70 for VIP transport.
Eight months ago, another KDF chopper hit a tree and crashed but no one was injured during the incident.
The chopper was carrying Ministry of Defence Staff who had accompanied Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale on a tour to the North Rift.
It is worth noting that the chopper involved in the incident was one of the eight Fennec AS550C3 and AS350B3 models that were acquired in Dubai in the early 2000s.
Thursday's crash, which claimed the top-most military official in the country, left senior and junior officers in KDF discussing the state of the choppers they use.
A KDF officer told the Nation that it was no secret that the state of the planes was poor.
“We use choppers that are in a bad state no wonder the continuous crushes. Something should be done to address the same,” said the officer who spoke in confidence as he is not authorised to address the media.
In an early interview with the Nation, Mr Duale said that such claims that the planes KDF officers were using were in a poor state were not true.
