Ivorian army chief visits

Useful nation-building solutions and military friendship are part of what the visiting chief of defence staff from Ivory Coast, Lt. Gen. Soumaïla Bakayoko, hopes to gain from his three-day visit to Rwanda.

Friday, February 17, 2012
Ivorian army chief Lt. Gen. Soumau00efla Bakayoko (right) pays tribute to the 1994 Genocide victims at Kigali Genocide Memorial yesterday. The New Times /J. Mbanda.

Useful nation-building solutions and military friendship are part of what the visiting chief of defence staff from Ivory Coast, Lt. Gen. Soumaïla Bakayoko, hopes to gain from his three-day visit to Rwanda.The army chief said this after his delegation visited Gisozi Genocide Memorial, where he laid a wreath in memory of victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.Bakayoko told reporters that his country is emerging from a crisis and that he hopes to take advantage of the Rwandan experience to adapt them back home."The solutions you have adopted here may add to our knowledge, we could adapt them in Ivory Coast, and give Ivory Coast more suitable solutions so that Ivoirians can be able to work towards reconstructing their country,” noted Gen. Bakayoko."We hope that the big sacrifice made allows the Rwandan people to rediscover themselves for the future generation, for a country of liberty, a country where all live together and where harmony among the people is a reality”.Bakayoko is expected to hold talks with his Rwandan counterparts and visit some RDF projects.