{"id":2000104492,"date":"2026-03-07T08:17:33","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T06:17:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/?p=2000104492"},"modified":"2026-03-08T18:07:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T16:07:30","slug":"minister-nduhungirehe-explains-why-rwanda-maintains-defensive-measures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/minister-nduhungirehe-explains-why-rwanda-maintains-defensive-measures\/","title":{"rendered":"Minister Nduhungirehe explains why Rwanda maintains defensive measures"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Speaking in an interview with Firstpost, Amb. Nduhungirehe said the roots of Rwanda\u2019s security concerns date back to the aftermath of the genocide, when forces responsible for the killings crossed into the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn 1994 in Rwanda, we had a genocide against the Tutsi. Over one million people were killed over three months,\u201d he said, noting that the perpetrators later fled across the border. \u201cThose who committed that genocide crossed the border. They were never disarmed by the UN or other forces that were on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the group that later became the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda has continued to operate from eastern Congo and has launched attacks on Rwanda over the past three decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom DRC, they have been attacking Rwanda over the past 30 years on countless occasions,\u201d Amb. Nduhungirehe said, adding that Rwanda has therefore deployed defensive measures along its border to prevent further attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister also warned that genocide ideology remains a concern in the region. \u201cWhen we hear the same words that were used before the genocide\u2026 we take it very seriously,\u201d he said, stressing that what happened in 1994 should never happen again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He further argued that ongoing hostilities on the ground, including increased air strikes and drone attacks in eastern Congo, risk undermining ceasefire commitments linked to ongoing peace initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite these challenges, Amb. Nduhungirehe said Rwanda remains engaged in diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the conflict while ensuring the country\u2019s security and preventing a repeat of the dark moments of 1994.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Rwanda\u2019s Foreign Affairs Minister, Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe has shed light on reasons why Rwanda’s defensive measures remain in place. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rwanda\u2019s Foreign Affairs Minister, Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe, has said that combatants linked to perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi who fled Rwanda continue to pose a security threat from across the border, forcing Kigali to maintain defensive measures while pursuing peace efforts in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000104536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[151,72],"byline":[160],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000104492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics-48","tag-editors-choice","tag-featured-news-home","byline-theophile-niyitegeka"],"bylines":[{"id":160,"name":"Th\u00e9ophile Niyitegeka","slug":"theophile-niyitegeka","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":3}],"contributors":[{"id":160,"name":"Th\u00e9ophile Niyitegeka","slug":"theophile-niyitegeka","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":3}],"featured_image":{"id":2000104536,"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/nduhu-8-17a46-4-98b06.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/nduhu-8-17a46-4-98b06.jpg","width":150,"height":150},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/nduhu-8-17a46-4-98b06.jpg","width":300,"height":300},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/nduhu-8-17a46-4-98b06.jpg","width":768,"height":768},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/nduhu-8-17a46-4-98b06.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/nduhu-8-17a46-4-98b06.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000104492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000104492"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000104492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000104540,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000104492\/revisions\/2000104540"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000104536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000104492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000104492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000104492"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000104492"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000104492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}