Rwandan army gets 23 new generalsBy XINHUA | Sunday, April 15  2012 at  13:25

Rwandan President Paul Kagame army has promoted 23 senior officers to the rank of general, the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) revealed Saturday in Kigali.

The new generals are mainly former commanders in the ex-rebel group of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF, current ruling party) which took power in July 1994, after defeating the Hutu Power-led government that carried out the genocide against Tutsis in the tiny eastern African nation.

A statement from the office of Rwandan Defence spokesperson said that President Paul Kagame has named one new Lieutenant-General, six new Major-Generals and 16 Brigadier-Generals among 30 senior officers promoted at the weekend.

It is said that the promotion also involved the elevation of seven Lieutenant-Colonels to Colonel, all of them are long-serving officers in the General Headquarters of the Rwandan army.

The sole senior officer promoted to the rank of Lt.Gen is Major-General Karenzi Karake, who is currently assuming the position of head of Rwanda National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), according to the same source.

The former Rwandan Chief of Defence Staff after the genocide in 1994, Bridagier-General Sam Kanyemera nicknamed "Kaka", who was later retired from military activities before joining the Rwandan Parliament under the ticket of the ruling party, has been promoted to Major-General which implies that he is supposed to rejoin the army.

Brigadier-General Kanyemera's assignment as member of the Rwandan Parliament in 1997 rendered his previous post of Chief of Staff of Rwandan army vacant and he was later replaced by Major-General Kayumba Nyamwasa, later a dissident senior officer of the Rwandan army who is currently seeking asylum in South Africa.