As part of it’s drastic measures to forestall what happened in Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, Niger and most recently, Gabon from playing out in Cameroon, 90 year old President Paul Biya, has made significant changes in his Ministry of Defence.
The old horse who has ruled the Francophone country with an iron fist has appointed new hands to take over critical internal and external services positions in the Ministry.
President Biya has been in power since 1982. Before he became President, he was the Prime Minister of the country from 1975 to 1982.
Among the positions reshuffled were the delegate to the presidency in charge of defence, air force staff, navy, and the police.
Also, shortly after the Gabon coup, Rwanda’s defence force—RDF announced on their X official handle that President Paul Kagame has approved the retirement of 83 senior officers.
According to the RDF, Kagame also approved the promotion and appointment of some officers to replace the previous office holders.
Meetings between Rwanda’s chief of defence staff, the United Arab Emirates—UAE ambassador to Rwanda, and the defence attaché of Cameroon were also held to discuss ways “to enhance defence cooperation between their respective countries”.
The tweet read, “Today, the CDS RDF Lt Gen M Muganga held meetings with HE Hazza AlQahtani, Ambassador of UAE to Rwanda and Colonel JE ACHU, Defence Attaché of Cameroon. They discussed ways to enhance defence cooperation between their respective countries.”
In 2015, Rwanda’s constitution was changed to allow Kagame to remain president until 2034.
Kagame, 65, has been in power since 2000 and is one of Africa’s longest-serving presidents.
