Gen. Patrick Nyamvumba, the newly appointed RDF Chief of Defence Staff
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has promoted former chief of the United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) Lt. Gen. Patrick Nyamvumba to a full general and appointed him Chief of Defence Staff
General Patrick Nyamvumba got the new assignment yesterday during the closure of a retreat which RDF had begun on 19th June 2013. President Paul Kagame who is also the Commander in Chief of the Rwanda Defence forces announced that Gen. Patrick Nyamvumba replaces Lt. Gen. Charles Kayonga.
President Kagame also made other changes and announced that Brig. Gen. Jack Nziza, former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Defence, is promoted to the rank of Major General and assumes the new duties of Inspector General of the Rwanda Defense Forces.
Maj. Gen. Jack Nziza’s former office in the ministry of defence will be assumed by newly-promoted Col. Joseph Rutabana.
The Rwandan National Police also got a new face in its ranks when Colonel Dan Munyuza was transferred to the Police force as deputy inspector general in charge of operations with the rank of deputy commissioner general of police.
Kagame also promoted Brig. Gen. Richard Rutatina to the rank of Major General and Colonel Fred Muziraguharara has been posted to the National Intelligence Security Services as director general responsible for finance and administration.
Prior to being appointed for the current position, Gen. Nyamvumba held several senior command positions in the RDF. He was the Commander of an infantry battalion, mechanized infantry regiment and infantry brigade in 1995, 1996 and 1997, respectively.
He served as Chief of Operations, Plans and Training between 1998 and 1999.
He assumed the position of Joint Task Force Commander in 1999 until when he was appointed as Commandant of the Military Academy in 2003.
He was Commandant of the Force Preparation Centre between 2004 and 2007. In 2007, he was appointed to serve as President of the Military High Court; after which he served as the Chief of Logistics of the Rwanda Defence Forces.
The 46year old General Nyamvumba, a graduate of the South African National Defense College meets new responsibilities after the UNAMID assignment he begun in 2009 and completed his term on 31st March 2013