KIGALI - Gen. William E. Ward, the commander of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM), is expected in the country, this Monday morning.

According to Army and Defence Spokesperson, Lt. Col. Jill Rutaremara, Gen. Ward will arrive early Monday and visit the Ministry of Defense (MoD) headquarters before jetting out later in the day.

At the MoD, Gen. Ward will meet with the Minister of Defence, James Kabarebe, and the Chief of Defence Staff [CDS], Lieutenant General, Charles Kayonga.

"He will also visit the Genocide Memorial Centre at Gisozi before he leaves,” said Lt. Col. Rutaremara.

During his last visit, in April 2009, he held discussions with the then Minister of Defence, Gen. Marcel Gatsinzi, as well as former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. James Kabarebe and other senior officers in the Rwanda Defence Force(RDF), with whom he discussed bilateral military issues.

In 2009, Gen. Ward praised the RDF’s professionalism, and announced that the US army learns a lot from the Rwandan military.

"The Rwandans don’t need to be told how to be a professional force. They have that. What they ask for are ways of how to enhance that professionalism, just as we (US army) ask for that,” Gen. Ward told reporters during his last visit.

"We learn from Rwandans, and can pick those lessons and adjust our own training programmes.”

Ends