Rallying call for professionalism in Darfur

The Rwanda Defence Force’s distinguished reputation of discipline is largely why it is respected worldwide and must be jealously guarded by all means, a top military officer told the last contingent of peacekeepers heading for Darfur in this year’s rotation exercise, yesterday.The RDF maintains over 3,200 peacekeeping troops in Darfur, Sudan under the UN-AU hybrid mission (UNAMID).Seeing off the last 126-strong force that left Kigali aboard a RwandAir aircraft heading to El Fasher, Darfur, Maj. Gen. Augustine Turagara, the Commandant of General Headquarters, urged them to maintain the highest standards of discipline, respect the culture of Darfurians as well as always be cautious and vigilant for their own safety.The last group is joining the battalion of Rwandan peacekeepers stationed at UNAMID’s Super Camp compound in El Fasher, where UNAMID Headquarters are based.Turagara noted that Rwanda does not have the riches that most African countries are endowed with but the country has a special weapon that most do not possess.“This weapon is high standards of discipline. And this is a very strong weapon that must be conserved,” said Turagara.Turagara said: “As you leave for this mission, there are certain things you must always bear in mind. First and foremost is that, you are not going there on an individual basis. You represent the RDF, the country, and Rwandans. All who see you will be seeing Rwanda, as well as Rwandans.”“That means that if you do a good job, it means well for all Rwandans too. If you do bad things, it holds bad consequences to the country and Rwandans. This is why you must focus on doing a good job while there.”UNAMID is mandated to protect civilians throughout the whole Darfur region and attacks on international peacekeepers are considered as war crimes and violations of international criminal law.Meanwhile, apart from helping provide physical security for the people of Darfur, Rwandan troops have worked to ensure that the social status of the Darfur community improves by introducing Rwandan community outreach programmes.They have built schools, helped provide medical care in the numerous IDP camps, built water facilities in the dry region, as well as saved Darfur women from possible rape as they wander in search of scarce wood fuel by making charcoal saving stoves or Rondereza, for them.Lt. Col. Mukasa Muhizi, the commander of a just returned unit from the Zamzam area, just a few kilometres south of El-Fasher said the RDF’s activities helped them win the hearts and minds of the civilian population.“When we reached there, last year, I found that the battalion I was replacing had built a school in Turba village. The people there were very happy. We also embarked on building four other class rooms for them,” Lt. Col. Muhizi said.“We put in effort, collected money from our own men, even though UNAMID also facilitated but we went down and helped build the structures.”

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Rallying call for professionalism in Darfur