By INNOCENT GAHIGANA
The New Times

The Chief of Staff (land forces) Lt. Gen. Charles Kayonga has lauded the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) who recently returned from a UN assignment in Khartoum, Sudan, for the discipline they exhibited. “During your time in Khartoum, you established and preserved a good reputation, which earned us respect and pride.

You should be thanked for what you have done for our country” Kayonga, who was flanked by other senior military officers, told the country’s first UN peacekeeping force (UNMIS) comprising 254 officers and men. He urged the returning troops not to use their experiences to maintain stability throughout the country.

“You have completed the UN mission but remember our enemy is still in hideouts in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), being facilitated by those who are against the prevailing stability in Rwanda,” Kayonga told the upbeat soldiers yesterday. He noted that the RDF would strive to recoup the country’s dignity that was ruined by the previous regimes.

The RDF soldiers replaced Italian, Danish and Norwegian soldiers in the UN Khartoum mission, which seeks to enforce the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed two years ago between the Sudanese government and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). Several other countries also contribute to the mission.

254 other troops are to replace the first contingent. Present at the ceremony were Brig. Gen. Jack Nziza and the Commandant of General Headquarters, Brig. Gen. Augustine Turagara.

PICTURED:The Army Chief of Staff (Land Forces) Lt. Gen. Charles Kayonga addresses the contigent of 254 soldiers of rdf (in blue berets) who returned home after serving under the United Nations Mission to the Sudan (unmis) in Khartoum for one year. Other RDF senior officers who attended the ceremony look on. Photo/G. Barya.