Rwanda President Hosts Retired Military Generals To Dinner Party

Rwanda’s President, Paul Kagame, has held a meeting to ‘appreciate’ military generals and senior officers that were recently retired by him.

Recall that Kagame, on Wednesday, approved the retirement of 95 military generals and senior officers as well as 930 soldiers.

Top on the list of retirees was General James Kabarebe, the country’s former Minister of Defence and Chief of Defence Staff.

The announcement came amid recent military coups in Niger Republic and Gabon.

Rwanda and Gabon are members of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).

Prior to the officers’ retirement, the Ugandan president promoted a number of lieutenant colonels to the rank of colonels and brigade commanders.

As disclosed on the Rwanda Presidency Twitter account on Friday, the president thanked the retirees for their service while the retired senior officers “thanked the President for his leadership and committed to continuing their contribution to Rwanda’s transformation through their respective expertise and mentoring the younger generation.”

Same day, the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) held a send-off ceremony to honour the service of the retirees.

According to the RDF, the send off ceremony has been its tradition over the years.

As disclosed on its official website, those retired included personnel who reached retirement age and those whose service contracts came to an end.

General (Rtd) James Kabarebe who spoke on behalf of the retirees at the meeting said “current posture of the RDF today provides hope to every retiring officer that everything will continue in the right direction.”

The general again thanked the President for his leadership, saying it has contributed to the liberation of the country and in building the nation.

At the said meeting, the Minister of Defence, Hon Juvénal Marizamunda on behalf of the president appreciated the generals and senior officers for their “contribution to building Rwanda and for their contribution towards liberation struggle and their role in stopping the Genocide against the Tutsi.”

The retirees were given certificates in recognition of their service to the nation.

Reacting, some users of X platform (formerly Twitter) commended the generals for their sacrifices to the nation while others advised them to note that a coup was not needed in Rwanda because of the visionary and people-oriented leadership of Kagame.

Their posts are below:

President Kagame and Commander-in-Chief of the Rwanda Defence Force held a meeting with recently retired Generals and senior officers where he thanked them for their service. The retired senior officers thanked the President for his leadership and committed to continuing their… pic.twitter.com/6nEiWszRLD

— Presidency | Rwanda (@UrugwiroVillage) September 1, 2023