By all means, he was one of the front runners for the vacant position of the Chief of Defence Forces following the death of General Francis Ogolla in a tragic helicopter crash in April 2024.
With General Ogolla’s successor poised to be from the Kenya Navy, Lt General Jimson Mutai was one of the candidates for the position.
After all, just only one month earlier, he had been promoted to the rank of Lt General and appointed as the Vice Chancellor of the National Defence University-Kenya.
Alongside the then Vice Chief of Defence Forces Lieutenant General Charles Kahariri, Lt General Mutai was the man to watch.
But the death of General Ogolla would complicate the succession game plan in the KDF and dimmed Lt General Mutai’s hopes of rising to the military peak.
With age factor and seniority coming into play in the General Ogolla succession, Lt General Mutai was knocked out by the now General Kahariri.
General Kahariri joined the military in 1987 while Lt General Mutai was his junior, considering he joined KDF in 1991. Thus became the first blow for the former Kenya Navy Commander.
Besides that, being from the same region with President William Ruto played to his disadvantage.
Had President Ruto appointed Lt General Mutai as the new CDF, it would have created the general perception that he was playing a tribal and regional card in KDF appointments. And so, just like that, General Kahariri’s path was cleared to rise to the top!
By PDC