Rwandan President Paul Kagame, has dismissed several senior military officers, including Maj Gen Martin Nzaramba and Col Dr. Etienne Uwimana, along with 19 other senior and junior officers.
In a statement released early Friday, the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) announced that the President also authorized the dismissal and contract termination of 195 additional military personnel across various ranks.
Maj Gen Nzaramba, born in 1967 in Mpigi, Uganda, where his family had taken refuge, previously served as the Director of the Nasho Military School. Col Dr. Etienne, a long-serving doctor at Kanombe Military Hospital, was appointed in 2020 as head of the hospital’s radiology department.
The dismissals come a day after a meeting between President Kagame and senior Rwandan military officers to discuss the nation’s peace and security priorities.
Reasons for these dismissals were not explicitly stated, but RDF regulations provide that any soldier who engages in conduct that undermines the integrity of the military profession, including offenses like extreme drunkenness, drug use, theft, and other discreditable acts, may be subject to dismissal and prosecution in military courts.
Dismissal from the RDF can also result from serious breaches of military values, such as corruption, divisionism, intrigue, or failure to respect military authorities.
Contract termination occurs when the military determines that there is no justifiable reason to continue the service of the individual, particularly in cases of improper behavior.
