The President of the Central African Republic, Catherine Samba Panza, on Thursday bestowed the Central African Recognition Medal on 737 officers and men of Rwanda Defence Forces serving in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).

The RDF peacekeepers are under MINUSCA’s RWABATT II.

The awarding ceremony was held at the Office of the President in the capital Bangui and it was also attended by CAR Foreign Affairs minister Samuel Rangba, among other dignitaries.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Defence, the Rwandan peacekeepers were rewarded for their professionalism and contribution to peace and stability of the Central African Republic.

"President Samba-Panza decorated Rwanda Battalion Commanding Officer (RWABATT II CO) with ‘Grade de Commandeur,’ other RDF Senior and Junior Officers received ‘Grade d'Officier’ , while other ranks received ‘Grade de Chevalier,’” reads the statement in part.

During the ceremony, the Commanding Officer of RWABATT II, Lt Col Egide Ndayizeye, thanked President Samba-Panza for the recognition of Rwanda Defence Forces peacekeepers and also thanked the MINUSCA leadership for their full support in fulfilling the mission mandate.

The Rwandan peacekeepers, who were represented at the ceremony by 25 officers led by Ndayizeye, together with invited dignitaries, were thereafter hosted by President Samba-Panza to a cocktail.

Among other roles of the Rwandan peacekeepers in the Central African Republic is to provide protection to President Samba-Panza, who has been heading the transitional government that was set up as a means to stop the violence between Christians and Muslims, in which thousands were killed.

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