Rwandan Defence Forces
| Rwanda Defence Force Ingabo z'u Rwanda |
|
|---|---|
| Founded | 1962 |
| Current form | 1994 |
| Service branches | Army, Air Force, Reserve Force |
| Headquarters | Post Box 23, Kigali |
| Leadership | |
| President of Rwanda | Paul Kagame |
| Minister of Defence | Gen. James Kabarebe |
| Chief of Defence Staff | Gen. Patrick Nyamvumba |
| Manpower | |
| Available for military service |
2,625,917 males, age 16–49 (2010 est.), 2,608,110 females, age 16–49 (2010 est.) |
| Fit for military service |
1,685,066 males, age 16–49 (2010 est.), 1,749,580 females, age 16–49 (2010 est.) |
| Reaching military age annually |
(2010 est.) |
| Expenditures | |
| Percent of GDP | 2.9% (2006 est.) |
| Related articles | |
| History |
Military history of Rwanda Rwandan Civil War First Congo War Second Congo War Six-Day War (2000) Dongo conflict 2009 Eastern Congo offensive |
| Hutu militants |
|---|
| Rwandan Genocide (1994) |
| Impuzamugambi |
| Interahamwe |
| Rwandan Armed Forces |
| Refugee crisis |
| RDR (1995–1996) |
| 1st and 2nd Congo War |
| ALiR (1996–2001) |
| FDLR (2000–present) |
The Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) (in Kinyarwanda: Ingabo z'u Rwanda) is the national army of Rwanda. The country's armed forces were originally known as the Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR), but following the victory of the Rwandan Patriotic Front in the country's civil war in 1994, it was renamed to the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA), and later to its current name.
The RDF comprises:
In November 2002 Emmanuel Habyarimana was removed from his post as Minister of Defence, an action which government spokesperson Joseph Bideri attributed to his "extreme pro-Hutu" views.Marcel Gatsinzi became Minister of Defence (in office 2002-2010) in succession to Habyarimana.
After it conquered the country in July 1994 in the aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide of April to July 1994, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) decided to split into a political division (which retained the RPF name) and a military division, which would serve as the official army of the Rwandan state.
Defence spending continues to represent an important share of the national budget, largely due to continuing security problems along Rwanda's frontiers with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi, and lingering concerns about Uganda's intentions towards its former ally. The Rwandan government launched an ambitious plan to demobilize thousands of soldiers, resulting in a standing military of 33,000 and another 2,000-strong paramilitary force - a decrease from 70,000 in just a decade.
During the First and Second Congo Wars of 1996-2003, the RPF committed wide-scale human-rights violations and crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to the United Nations Mapping Report.
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