Former Defence Minister, General (Rtd) Marcel Gatsinzi who died on March 6, will be laid to rest on Thursday, March, 16, The New Times has learnt.

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Gatsinzi’s body arrived in Rwanda on March 12 from Belgium where he succumbed to illness while undergoing treatment. Senior government officials received the deceased’s body, including Defence Minister Maj Albert Murasira.

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Previously, Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) extended its condolences and joined the family in grief during this sad moment.

ALSO READ: RDF mourns Gen Marcel Gatsinzi

Gatsinzi was born on January 9, 1948, and among other schools attended Collège Saint-André in Nyamirambo where he graduated with a diploma in 1968.

His military career began at the then Kigali Military Academy in the same year (1968), and he was commissioned as a second lieutenant on March 31, 1970.

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He pursued his military career courses in Belgium at Heverlee (Louvain) in the School of Logistics in 1971 and Brussels at the Royal High Institute of Defence from 1974 to 1976.

Gen Gatsinzi served in various leadership roles for the army and country including serving as Rwanda’s Minister of Defence from 2002 to 2010, and as the Minister of Disaster Preparedness and Refugee Affairs from 2010 to 2013.