{"id":2000119021,"date":"2026-07-11T12:29:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T10:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000119021"},"modified":"2026-07-11T12:29:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T10:29:30","slug":"rdf-honours-retiring-military-officers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/rdf-honours-retiring-military-officers\/","title":{"rendered":"RDF honours retiring military officers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The event was presided over by the Minister of Defence, Juvenal Marizamunda, on behalf of the President of the Republic of Rwanda and Commander-in-Chief of the Rwanda Defence Force. It was attended by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen MK Mubarakh, Service Chiefs, Generals, Senior Officers, and families of the retirees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking on behalf of the Commander-in-Chief, Minister Marizamunda expressed gratitude to the retirees for their dedicated service to the nation. He commended their role in the liberation struggle, stopping the Genocide against the Tutsi, and rebuilding the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also praised their contribution in transforming the RDF into a strong, professional, and internationally respected force through peacekeeping operations and bilateral missions, noting that their work has left a lasting legacy. The Minister further thanked the spouses of the retirees for their unwavering support, acknowledging the sacrifices they made in keeping families together during periods of deployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his remarks, the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen MK Mubarakh, congratulated the retirees for the patriotism, discipline, and professionalism they demonstrated throughout their careers. He thanked them for mentoring younger soldiers and instilling in them the core values of the RDF, which have prepared the next generation to safeguard the nation. He emphasized that the RDF and the country will continue to benefit from the retirees\u2019 experience, wisdom, and counsel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking on behalf of the retirees, Maj Gen (Rtd) Emmanuel Bayingana expressed pride in the remarkable progress of the Rwanda Defence Force. He thanked President Paul Kagame for his visionary leadership in building a strong and united RDF family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He affirmed that although they are leaving active service, they will continue to uphold RDF values of patriotism, discipline, and selfless service, and pledged to keep contributing to Rwanda\u2019s development and prosperity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ceremony concluded with the presentation of certificates to the retirees in recognition of their distinguished and dedicated service to the Rwanda Defence Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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Minister of Defence Juvenal Marizamunda addresses retiring RDF personnel, thanking them for their dedicated service and contribution to Rwanda’s security and development.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Chief of Defence Staff Gen MK Mubarakh commended retiring officers for their patriotism, professionalism, and commitment to mentoring the next generation of soldiers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Maj Gen (Rtd) Emmanuel Bayingana spoke on behalf of the retirees, reaffirming their commitment to continue serving Rwanda beyond active military duty.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Minister of Defence Juvenal Marizamunda presents a certificate to Maj Gen (Rtd) Emmanuel Bayingana during the 14th RDF send-off ceremony at RDF Headquarters in Kimihurura.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Retiring Rwanda Defence Force personnel attended the 14th RDF send-off ceremony alongside their families at RDF Headquarters in Kimihurura.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) held its fourteenth send-off ceremony on Friday at RDF Headquarters in Kimihurura to honour military personnel who have reached retirement age and those whose service contracts have come to an end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000119026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[151,69],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000119021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-40","tag-editors-choice","tag-homehighlights","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","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":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","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":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000119026,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/csm_5.jpg_d87d4c34bb.jpeg","alt":"","caption":"Minister of Defence Juvenal Marizamunda presents a certificate to Maj Gen (Rtd) Emmanuel Bayingana during the 14th RDF send-off ceremony at RDF Headquarters in Kimihurura.","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1600,"height":1360,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/csm_5.jpg_d87d4c34bb.jpeg","width":1600,"height":1360},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/csm_5.jpg_d87d4c34bb.jpeg","width":1600,"height":1360},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/csm_5.jpg_d87d4c34bb.jpeg","width":1600,"height":1360},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/csm_5.jpg_d87d4c34bb.jpeg","width":1600,"height":1360},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/csm_5.jpg_d87d4c34bb.jpeg","width":1600,"height":1360}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000119021","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=2000119021"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000119021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000119027,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000119021\/revisions\/2000119027"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000119026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000119021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000119021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000119021"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000119021"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000119021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}