President William Ruto has revealed the kind of conversation he had with the new Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), General Francis Ogolla.
Speaking during a media roundtable interview, Ruto said his choice of Ogolla was against the advice of many people.
The General was among the individuals in the Nationals Security Council accused of attempts to overturn President Ruto's victory in the August 2022 presidential poll.
The head of state said that before he picked Ogolla to be the new CDF, they had a conversation where he told him that despite what he had done, he remained the most qualified to take over from retired CDF Robert Kibochi.
"I appointed General Ogolla. He was among the people who went to Bomas to try and overturn my victory but because when I looked at his CV he was the best person to become general, I called him and sat him down, I told him, my friend, you went to Bomas to try and overturn my victory but because you are the best person to be general, I'm going to give you the job," Ruto said.
"Many things that are part of my system outweighed the mistake he had done."
He further noted that it was possible Ogolla was only acting on orders from the former head of state, Uhuru Kenyatta.
Ruto said during the conversation, Ogolla said he had no defence because what he did was wrong.
He said because of this, Ogolla asked him to do whatever he wished with him, over his actions, but because of his track record, he went ahead and handed him the job.
"I also must be sensitive. What exercised my mind? This gentleman has a very good track record and in fact. This gentleman made a mistake maybe because the commander in chief at that time told him what to do. And when I talked to him he told me 'I have no defence, you do with me what you want. What I did was wrong."
Defending his decisions in making state appointments, Ruto insisted his appointment of Ogolla shows that he values merit over the tribe.
