Musanze, 21 March 2025

The Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, accompanied by the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) Chief of Defence Staff, Gen MK Mubarakh, visited the Rwanda Defence Force Command and Staff College (RDFCSC) in Nyakinama, Musanze District, where he delivered a lecture to the students of the Senior Command and Staff Course.

Gen Muhoozi was welcomed by the college Commandant, Brig Gen Andrew Nyamvumba, and was given a guided tour of the college, during which he planted a tree as a symbolic gesture of environmental preservation.

In his remarks, Gen Muhoozi highlighted the strong historical military cooperation between Rwanda and Uganda, which has yielded positive results and still demonstrates a shared commitment to addressing any security challenge.

“With the combined capacity of these two strong militaries, there is no challenge that we can, not overcome if we are serious about it,” said Gen Muhoozi.

The UPDF CDF delivered a lecture titled “Strengthening Defence Cooperation as a Precursor to a Secure Africa: Mechanisms, Challenges and the Way Forward” to the Senior Command and Staff Course students from 20 different countries.

Gen Muhoozi encouraged the students to always focus on the historical missions of Pan-Africanism, such as securing the strategic interests of Africa, achieving the prosperity of the people, and enhancing the brotherhood of all African people. He urged them to work together as Africans in order to solve their own problems.

RDFCSC is currently the highest training institution of the RDF, and its mission is to develop the intellectual ability of its student officers to enable them to better understand national, regional, and global security challenges and how they impact the military operating environment.

This year, the RDF CSC hosted 108 students from Rwanda and allied countries, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Botswana, the Central African Republic, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Jordan, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, South Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia and Uganda.