Fear of Coup: Rwandan President Kagame retires 12 top Generals

Rwanda President, Paul Kagame has approved the retirement of 12 military generals and 1,013 military officers in the country.

The decision comes barely 48 hours after a military coup in Gabon ousted President Ali Bongo from power.

Their retirement was contained in a statement issued by the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) on Wednesday.

The New Times reports that those retired included two four-star generals, James Kabarebe and Fred Ibingira, two three-star generals, Charles Kayonga and Frank Mushyo Kamanzi.

Kabarebe and Kayonga have previously served as Chief of Defence Staff of RDF, while the other two have been service chiefs previously.

Kabarebe, who also once served as the defence minister, is currently the Senior Presidential Advisor on Defence and Security, while Kamanzi is currently Rwanda’s Ambassador to Russia.

Also, five Major Generals were affected. They are Martin Nzaramba, Eric Murokore, Augustin Turagara, Charles Karamba and Albert Murasira.

Three Brigadier General are also affected. They are Chris Murari, Didace Ndahiro and Emmanuel Ndahiro.

According to the statement, the President has also approved the retirement of 83 senior officers, six junior officers and 86 senior non-commissioned officer, 678 whose contracts ended and 160 medical discharges.