Ruto’s Decision To Appoint Gen Ogola as Chief Of CDF Demonstrated He Is Not Vengeful And Vindictive
The Mt Kenya Times 
By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- “Dr Ruto is just taking you for a ride. He does not believe in the vision of building a united and cohesive Kenya society. So, his promise to rollout development projects and address a myriad of challenges facing you (Kenyans) is just a pipe dream. He is, however, using this as bait meant to lure you to vote for him. This is because these issues can only be addressed when the country is united”.
- During the interview, the President took this opportunity to dismiss his critics.
- If I am vengeful and vindictive, I would not have appointed General Ogolla as the head of Chief of Defense Forces (CDF).
In the countdown to 2022 general elections, Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition flag bearer Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua used all the tricks in the book to cast Kenya Kwanza presidential candidate William Ruto as a person who is unfit to lead the country.
They repeatedly warned Kenyans that they will regret if they elect him.
“Dr Ruto is just taking you for a ride. He does not believe in the vision of building a united and cohesive Kenya society. So, his promise to rollout development projects and address a myriad of challenges facing you (Kenyans) is just a pipe dream. He is, however, using this as bait meant to lure you to vote for him. This is because these issues can only be addressed when the country is united”.
To drive the point, they would repeatedly averred that one of the alleged weaknesses of Dr Ruto stood as being vengeful and vindictive.
But the more they attacked him, the more he gained political mileage.
By the time they realized this blunder, Dr Ruto has already become a household name.
Majority of Kenyans believed the allegations made against him were politically motivated and hence not based on truth.
This is because he had fallen out with his boss, President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The outgoing President had thrown his full weight behind the candidature of Raila Odinga.
Uhuru’s decision extremely angered his community, the Kikuyu. They would read it as a pure betrayal.
This is because he had signed a pre-election pact with Ruto which stated. He will run the country for 10 years and then pass the baton to Ruto to do his 10.
Rigathi Gachagua, now the Deputy President, would kick off and lead a vigorous campaign rallying the Mountain to abandon President Uhuru and reject his project. “Uhuru is now going home. He has no business to lecture and dictate to us where to cast our votes.
We could have listened to him if he kept his promise. We want to tell him Kikuyus are truthful people. They are not liar. So, they will overwhelmingly elect Dr Ruto to do his 10”.
Gachagua further stated. Raila candidature is unsellable in the Mountain.
Uhuru is totally misled because what he is doing is like selling pork in Saudi Arabia.
Dr Ruto and Gachagua’s move to unveil the ‘Hustler Nation’ slogan bolstered their campaigns.
As they say in Aviation industry, this is the energy that would power the plane to takeoff. They rode on this wave all the way to ballot.
Since he assumed office, President William Ruto has made great strides to address the promises he made.
I’m sure many would agree with me on this.
During the electioneering period, the leading contenders would always promise the voters heaven on earth.
We heard this during the campaigns that catapulted honorable Mwai Kibaki to power and later his successor Uhuru Kenyatta.
The implementation plan would be categorized in two phases: Short and long term. As it turned out, none of them would meet timelines for the projects he had lined up.
Well, we are seeing the same thing happening in this government.
However, in my considered opinion President Ruto had made great progress.
We know he took over at time when the country was facing four main challenges: Drought and famine (the worst in 40 years), dilapidated economy, huge foreign debts, Russian-Ukraine war and at a time when the country was recovery from the devastating effects of Covid-19 pandemic.
A few days ago, the President had an interview with journalists drawn from mainstream electronic and print media houses.
This came in the wake of the public knowing what is contained in the Finance Bill 2023.
This Bill is insensitive to our plight. If it is passed by parliament, majority of them reasoned we will end up being overtaxed.
We have a good President who listens to the concerns raised by the public. He is always ready to respond to the issues in contention and not well understood.
This explains why he invited journalists to this interview at State House.
Responding to the questions related to the proposed new taxes, he stated. Let me start by giving comparative analysis of the taxes collected from the citizens in other countries across the world. It is very high compared to taxes that all of us are obligated to pay here in Kenya.
In countries like Turkey and France, the taxes deducted from each citizen were above 40 percent for salaried and those in business and informal sectors.
Closer home, in South Africa and other countries in the region, the percentage is very high.
In Kenya, it is very low at 14 pc.
He further reiterated: A time has come for we Kenyans to live within our means.
The previous governments had developed insatiable appetite for borrowing foreign loans.
Borrowing is a bad idea. It does not help the economy to grow. So, my commitment is to drastically reduce the level of borrowing.
It is extremely wrong to borrow more than the total sum of the country’s wealth.
It is also wrong to borrow money to pay salaries and sort out other recurrent expenditures bills.
If we have to go for loan monies, let us take very little and spend the whole amount for development.
Here, the point is clear. For now, Kenyans should agree to tighten their belt.
This will not take long because the president is working hard to return the economy back on track.
As Deputy President stated. Kenyans will start to put money into their pockets after one year.
During the interview, the President took this opportunity to dismiss his critics.
If I am vengeful and vindictive, I would not have appointed General Ogolla as the head of Chief of Defense Forces (CDF).
You know he was one of those who wanted to overturn my victory at the Bomas of Kenya.
For this reason, I had been told not appoint him.
But I told myself, if I do this I will look petty. I will also do injustice to him.
I looked at chequered career. He had the best credentials. That is why I appointed him. I did not look his tribe.
However, contrary to the impression created, the President said.
14 Military Generals were qualified for the position of Chief of CDF. So I had an option to pick one of them.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a writer and political analyst based in Nairobi
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