Before the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, during it, and even in its aftermath, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Augustin Kuradupagase, a former member of the ex-FAR (Forces Armées Rwandaises), believed that the Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA-Inkotanyi) and Tutsi were the enemy.

But a combination of factors including advice from his family, a change in his own convictions, and military defeat led him to lay down his arms and join the very force he once fought against.

RPA would later be transformed into Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF), fully transitioning into a national army.

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Son is serving in RDF

Today, Kuradupagase, whose own son is currently serving in the Rwanda Defence Forces at the rank of a Second Lieutenant having attended the prestigious Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom, is a member of Rwanda National Police (RNP)’s Senior Management Council.

He describes his transition from being an ex-FAR soldier to becoming a member of the RPA and later RDF as a reflection of Rwanda's path toward unity and reconciliation.

Born in 1968 in the former Karago Commune, Kuradupagase was trained by French military instructors before joining the ex-FAR in early 1990s.

"Because I came from an area that was the home to former President Juvénal Habyarimana, I was selected to join the École Supérieure Militaire (ESM) in 1991. The programme normally lasted four years, but because the liberation war had already begun, we completed only one year of training," he recalled.