The National Defence Council is set to meet this week in order to select the next Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) following the death of Francis Ogolla as Kenyans wait to know who will be the next senior most military official in the country.
This council, consisting of six members, including Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale as the chairperson, has the sole responsibility of recommending suitable candidates for presidential appointment.
Other members are Defence Principal Secretary Patrick Mariru and the commanders representing the Army, Air Force, and Navy.
Ogolla who died alongside nine other senior military officers two weeks ago was remaining with a few months in office before proceeding on retirement.
President William Ruto, however, had the latitude to extend his term for one year depending on some factors like he did for Ogolla’s predecessor Robert Kibochi.
As per the KDF Act, 2012, a General who is a four-star is supposed to retire at 62, a Lieutenant-General (a three-star) at 61, a Major-General (two-star) at 59 and a Brigadier at 57 years.
With Ogolla having died just a year into his reign, the Defence Council will have to juggle three military branches as well as the various ethnic groups in Kenya.
Under the Tonje rules, the CDF’s position should be held on a rotational basis among the three services. Other factors to consider are seniority, military and formal civil education and military or security experience.
During Ogolla’s burial, President Ruto also said tribalism and ethnicity will no longer drive the politics and governance of the country. He said every Kenyan will have an opportunity to serve the nation on account of merit as opposed to tribalism and political affiliation.
“There is no position reserved for any group or any community or any region. Kenya belongs to all of us,” he said.
This, he said, will give every child in the country hope that they can grow up and become anything they want.
“I want every child, as they grow up in Kenya, to know that merit is going to be the yardstick of how far they can go,” he said.
Ogolla was from the Airforce while Kibochi was from the Military. Should the Defence Council stick to the Tonje rules then the next CDF could either be Lieutenant General Jimson Mutai or the current Vice CDF, Lieutenant General Charles Kahariri.
Both Kahariri and Mutai are from the Kenya Navy. The latter however does not currently have a military unit serving under him and it would be interesting to see if he will be brought back from academia into active service.
Mutai was last month promoted to the rank of Lt Gen moved to the Defence College and named Vice Chancellor National Defence College.
Should the Defence Council decide to retain the CDF within the Airforce for the remainder of Ogolla’s term then Maj Gen John Mugaravai Omenda could be promoted to a Lieutenant General and then made four star General before being made CDF.
The only problem with this move is that, no one can skip ranks within the military and placing Omenda.
The other option would be to promote former NMS boss Lt Gen Mohammed Badi who is currently the senior most soldier within the Airforce.
Lt Gen Badi, who was picked by former President Uhuru Kenyatta as Director General of the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) to manage key functions the city county, was like Ogolla a trusted ally of the former president.
Since the exit of NMS, Badi has however taken a low profile back at the military. In 2021, Badi in an interview said it highly unlikely for him to be CDF.
“The dream of every soldier is to be a four-star general. However, the position of CDF is only one yet we are four lieutenant generals.
“My chances of becoming CDF are 25 percent, there is a high possibility I might not rise beyond; civilian life is beckoning,” Badi stated.
