On 24 October 2018, the Rwanda Defence Force Command and Staff College joined Zambia, in celebrating her 54th independence anniversary. On this day, the College organized refreshments for the entire College fraternity to commemorate the event.

During the refreshment, the Zambia national anthem was played.

For this memorable day, Maj Paul BESA (Allied student from Zambia) highlighted that Zambia got independence on 24 October 1964. 24 October is not only a special day for Zambia but it is also the UN day. Zambia is a landlocked country surrounded by 8 countries namely; DRC, Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Angola, Botswana and Namibia and it has an area of 652, 618 sq km with 10 provinces. The capital city is called Lusaka. Zambia of today which is 54 years old was colonized by Britain, hence the official language is English, but they have 72 languages and 72 tribes. From independence, Zambia has evolved through the years with 6 presidents so far. The 1st being Kenneth Kaunda, 2nd Fredrick Chiluba, 3rd Levy Patrick Mwanawasa, 4th Rhupia Banda, 5th Micheal Sata and the current president Edgar Chagwa Lungu.

On behalf of the College entire fraternity, The General Coordinator, Col FM ITANGAYENDA, congratulated and wished happy Independence Day to the Zambian senior officers currently at the College as students, Maj Paul BESA and Maj J MBALE. He said that: “United we stand, divided we fall” is not an African saying, but it truly reflects the sole conditions under which African Independence was born and keeps living today: its fortitude blooms when we come together in the spirit of oneness, and it is inconceivable when we feel separated from each other. Pauline Hanson said, “To survive in peace and harmony, united and strong, we must have one people, one nation, one flag”. It goes without saying that the flag is the most potent token of the African Independences.

As Robert Frost stated, “Freedom lies in being bold”, having the courage to fight for it and head in your chosen direction. The future, progress, and development of our great countries do not lie solely on technological improvement, but on how we build social cohesion and trust between our nation and its people. That way, we can build a great nation we all can rely on and be proud of. On this special day here’s wishing our dreams of a new tomorrow come true! May your Independence Day be filled with patriotic spirit!

Let’s celebrate a peaceful life in our land by remembering all AFRICAN heroes who gave us freedom.

ONE ZAMBIA, ONE NATION - ONE RWANDA, ONE NATION - ONE AFRICA, ONE CONTINENT. Have a wonderful Independence Day."