Lt. Gen. Innocent Kabandana who last Friday was laid to rest at Kanombe Military Cemetery was a true officer and gentleman. I will not pretend to know a great deal about this fine career soldier, who passed on at just 59. I only crossed paths with him a few times, but I was truly impressed by him. For his poise, gentleness, selfless service, name it. ALSO READ: Lt Gen Kabandana remembered as a patriot, man of integrity Among several roles he’s played, Kabandana was Joint Task Force Commander of Rwandan troops in Mozambique, who in the Cabo Delgado Province did something few in southern Africa thought possible. They rid the region of terrorist forces (the kind allied with Islamic Jihadists all over the world), and restored peace and stability there. In barely 30 days. ALSO READ: Kagame promotes Innocent Kabandana to Lieutenant-General Kabandana also at one time was deputy force commander with the United Nations Mission to South Sudan. He also served as Defense Attache in the Rwandan embassy in Washington DC. During one period he was commander of RDF Special Forces. And so on. The extent of his services requires a booklet in itself. But then things were never easy, at all, for the younger Kabandana – and for so many contemporaries of his – in the earlier years when he joined the liberation struggle, and that’s an understatement. I will begin with the fact Kabandana was of the “Class of 90”, meaning those officers – all those that still serve in the forces from that time now are senior officers – who entered Rwanda to what can only be called a baptism of fire. Obviously, anyone that joined the liberation movement at whatever point of the fight; including in 1994, with the war drawing to its end, horribly, is a hero whose contributions can never be downplayed in any way. Their elders; the ones that had known liberation wars in Uganda, who then formed the vanguard of our liberation movement on October 1, 1990, well, there are no words for what those ones did. Their heroism and courage would inspire others, who looked up to them, in their decision to risk their very lives; to sacrifice everything for a homeland. Thus, we had the likes of Innocent Kabandana, and so many of a similar background, and age group, who answered the call of duty, thus making liberation possible. When the RPA/F launched the war of liberation on the first of October 1990, Kabandana joined with many others. He, and they, came to the struggle at a time when matters looked bleakest. Death was almost a certainty for any that decided to throw in their lot with Inkotanyi in those times. The war against the genocidal army of Juvénal Habyarimana, the Rwandan Armed Forces known by its French initials FAR, was a formidable foe. ALSO READ: Habyarimana's role in planning, implementing 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi Habyarimana’s military rode two advantages. It was the government army, which meant access to all the resources a state can muster. Secondly, it was backed by the neo-colonialist Mitterrand administration in Paris, which from the first day made it clear it would do everything possible, including sending armed French troops, to come to the aid of one of their most willing puppets in Africa. The genocidal regime’s army mauled the appallingly under-resourced guerrilla force that the RPF/A Inkotanyi was in the first days and months. The Inkotanyi’s chances looked vanishingly small against the Habyarimana coalition. It took extraordinary courage for anyone to stand against them, and equally extraordinary bravery to decide to offer oneself to join the fight against them. But the RPF/A, children of refugees, individuals that knew this was the very last chance if their people were ever again to see their homeland again – in short, the Kabandanas (here I use the recently deceased Lt. Gen. as a stand-in for many that I personally knew, including a younger brother) – were undeterred. There ethos was, give me my rights or give me death! ALSO READ: The former Rwandan Armed Forces' central role in preparation of 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi The RPA were superior to the Habyarimana coalition in only about three, none-tangible ways: heart, conviction, cause. These in the long run were what made the difference in the attritional battles that followed; culminating in the utter and sound defeat of the Habyarimana regime, or more precisely its short-lived successor - the Sindikubwabo/Kambanda gang of mass murderers; the so-called Interim Government that would attempt to see the Genocide against the Tutsi through. The multitudes of sons and daughters of Rwandan exiles, many who themselves had spent all their lives as refugees, had shown an indomitable spirit, never deterred by the odds that stared them in the face. Under the able leadership of (now our President) Paul Kagame – who himself only was 33 when he took the mantle of leadership following the extremely tragic, untimely passing of Maj. Gen. Fred Rwigema – they did the impossible. And in the past years they’ve delivered a Rwanda for all Rwandans. This is the history of a liberation that’s yielded so much fruit. Well, the great thing is, Lt. Gen. Kabandana has passed on after seeing the promised land. Go well Afande.
