Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) has confirmed that they have received the casket bearing remains of fallen Rwandan peacekeeper Sergeant Jean d’Amour Nsabimana which arrived in Rwanda from Central African Republic on Thursday, January 21. Nsabimana was killed on January 13 during attacks by elements of an armed group opposed to the peace process in Central African Republic and are loyalists of former President François Bozizé. The attack, which left another peacekeeper injured, was repulsed by the blue helmets, in conjunction with the Central African armed forces. “RDF officials, as well as family members, officially received the fallen peacekeeper at the Kigali International Airport. The RDF reiterates its heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the fallen soldier,” reads part of the statement released on Thursday, January 21. Nsabimana will, according to the statement, be laid to rest at Kanombe Military Cemetery at a date that is yet to be communicated as RDF and the family are still consulting on the right time to send him off. Speaking to The New Times, RDF Spokesperson, Lt. Col. Ronald Rwivanga, said they are in touch with the bereaved family which, he said, is supposed to arrange on who will attend the burial before the deceased is laid to rest. “Of course the family has the right to send him off but their number will be limited as per the preventive guidelines to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said. Rwanda is one of the top troop contributors to MINUSCA, which started in April 2014 to protect civilians in the country under Chapter VII mandate of the UN Charter.
