Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) spokesperson Brig Gen Patrick Karuretwa has said Rwanda will continue maintaining its defense measures as long as security threats persist, noting that such arrangements are a normal practice for any country seeking to safeguard its sovereignty.
Speaking in an interview with RBA, Karuretwa said defense measures are not permanent in form but are shaped by prevailing security realities, and cannot be abandoned while perceived threats remain unresolved.
He said: “If there are defense measures in place, it means there is a problem being guarded against; it means there is an enemy with intentions to act here in Rwanda. No country can do without defense measures.”
Karuretwa pointed to the presence of the FDLR in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), describing the group as composed of perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and said it continues to pose a security concern for Rwanda.
He also alleged that the group benefits from support within the DRC context, arguing that this complicates efforts to address the threat and necessitates continued defensive readiness.
“When you look at the kind of problem we have now, where the President of the DRC chooses to work with our enemies to cause us trouble, defense measures cannot be removed; they are only adapted,” he said.
The RDF spokesperson further referred to past cross-border incursions involving armed groups, including former Rwandan Armed Forces (Ex-FAR) elements and Interahamwe militias, saying such experiences remain a key reference point for Rwanda’s security posture.
“We have seen what happens when you wait for an enemy’s actions to reach Rwandan territory. We know where that led us. We are not poor students,” he said.
Karuretwa added that Rwanda continues to face pressure from those calling for the removal of security measures along its border with the DRC, but maintained that such calls do not override what he described as existing security concerns.
“There is never a time without pressure on Rwanda,” he said. “Saying we should remove defense measures would be suicidal.”
