President Paul Kagame in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief of the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) on Friday, December 17, appointed Col François-Régis Gatarayiha as Deputy Head Defence Intelligence and Director of Technology. 

Gatarayiha was until September this year the Director General of Immigration and Emigration when he was replaced by Assistant Commissioner of Police Lynder Nkuranga.

Gatarayiha had led the institution since August 2018.

He has formerly worked as the Director General of Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA), where he also served as Director General and had also worked in the same institution as Director of ICT Infrastructure Development.

He has also previously served as Head of the ICT Department at the Rwanda Development Board, before serving as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth and ICT, for a year. 

From September 2017 to October 2018, Gatarayiha was Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications.

Meanwhile, in the same statement released on Friday by the Ministry of Defence, the Commander-in-Chief of the RDF also promoted 460 officers at the rank of major to Lieutenant Colonel, while 472 captains were promoted to major. 

In the category of non-commissioned officers, four officers at the rank of Warrant Officer II were promoted to Warrant Officer I.

Other promotions included; 12,690 privates who were elevated to corporal, 2,836 corporals promoted to sergeant and 225 sergeants to staff sergeant.

The appointment and promotions take immediate effect, according to the statement.