Musanze on 23 April 2023

Every year, the Rwanda Defence Force Command and Staff College (RDFCSC) plans and organizes the Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) Liberation War Study Tour for national students attending Senior Command and Staff Course (SCSC). The tour gives students opportunity to research on various battles and review operational challenges faced by RPA commanders during the Liberation War. The College considers the RPA Liberation War Study Tour as an important part of the course curriculum to disseminate RDF traditional values and impart knowledge about the planning and conduct of campaigns.

For this year of 2023, the students of SCSC 11 accompanied by the College leadership and faculty Staff conducted a four days RPA Liberation War Study Tour and Allied Senior Officers familiarization tour as part of Military History Module.

The purpose of the tour was to gain knowledge about the planning and conduct of the RPA Liberation War and understands the key elements which led to victory of RPA against a stronger and internationally supported government force for local Students and to broaden the Allied Officers understanding of the recent history of Rwanda including the Genocide against the Tutsi. Such knowledge helped officers to emulate and uphold the values of resilience, sacrifice and patriotism so much cherished by RDF. The understanding of the RPA Liberation War helps student officers to avoid pitfalls that were realized within the said war in their future planning and conduct of operations.

Interactive sessions were provided by a group of respondents who explained the initial stages of RPA Liberation War that begun on 1 October 1990 at KAGITUMBA. The students had an opportunity to ask questions and seek clarifications about the RPA Liberation War. The discussions revolved around understanding the planning and conduct of operations and battles, identifying major challenges both sides (RPA and FAR) faced, and how they managed to overcome them. The students were privileged to meet with RDF leadership comprised of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen JB Kazura and Army Chief of Staff Lt Gen M Mubarakh to get a strategic brief about the Liberation war. Finally, the tour comprised a visit to the Conseil National de Développement “CND”, now Rwanda’s Parliament building, where a number of interviews with former RPA and FAR Senior Officers were conducted specifically on the campaign against the genocide, from 7 April to 17 July 1994.

The areas visited were KAGITUMBA, NYABWISHONGWEZI, GABIRO, RYABEGA and NYAGATARE in the Eastern Province; MULINDI, BYUMBA, BUTARO and NYAMAGUMBA in the Northern Province; and the former CND (Parliament Building) in KIGALI City.

The allied officers’ familiarization tour was conducted to Murambi Genocide Memorial, Huye National Museum and Nyanza Cultural Trails in southern province, Chancellery for Heroes, National Orders and Decorations of Honour (CHENO), BK ARENA, Kigali Memorial Genocide, Museum for Campaign against Genocide, Nyandungu Urban Welt land Eco-Tourism Park, Canal Olympia Rebero and Kigali Cultural Village Rebero in Kigali city.

RPA STUDY TOUR PHOTOS

ALLIED SENIOR OFFICERS FAMILIARIZATION TOUR PHOTOS

THE END