Twenty-eight year ago today, the Rwanda Patriotic Front took Mont Kigali from the City of Kigali’s last major bastion. This effectively liberated the capital.
According to the official archives of the liberation war and campaign to stop the Genocide against the Tutsi, Paul Kagame’s Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) attacked Mont (Mount) Kigali from different directions at around 6a.m on July 4, 1994, dislodging FAR from the hugely strategic terrain around 10a.m the same day.
The capital fell three months after then Chairman of High Command of RPA Maj Gen Kagame ordered his 600-strong forces at the former CND (Parliamentary Buildings) in Kigali to break out of their positions and all the other RPA troops to advance and engage the enemy on three-pronged axes.
The RPA forces moved from the north to take three directions when they left their positions. The main was the Central Axis (from Byumba–Kigali). Kagame had identified Kigali the centre of gravity (FAR) for the genocidal force, explaining why he allocated more troops and logistics resources to this axis.
Aside from the ‘600’ troops that were already in Kigali under a peace deal that effectively collapsed when the Genocide started, five Combined Mobile Forces (CMFs) advanced toward the capital as the RPA launched the campaign against the Genocide. The five CMFs were led by Sam ‘Kaka’ Kanyemera (Alpha), Dodo Twahirwa (Bravo), Charles Ngoga (59), Charles Musitu (21) and Charles Muhire (101).
The two subsidiary axes included the Southeastern Axis (Nyagatare-Gatsibo-Kayonza, from where the forces split into groups, with the Wilson Bagire’s 7 CMF also heading to Kigali through Rwamagana, and Fred Ibingira’s 157 CMF advancing further southwest through Kibungo-Rusomo-Nemba-Gako-
The Northwestern Axis was third in the axis. It saw Charlie Mobile Force, under Thadee gashumba, move towards Ruhengeri and Gisenyi.
All RPF forces advanced with the goal of defeating the Genocidal forces and rescuing victims of Genocide against Tutsi. The main strategic end state was a situation in which the Genocide is stopped and the genocidal government is overthrown and peace is restored throughout the country.
Mount Kigali, which is one of three tall hills that overlook the city, was a key strategic position of FAR, and their last in the capital.
“Mont Kigali was the base of FAR’s long-range artillery and it was instrumental in the genocidal forces holding onto other positions like Camp Kigali,” said one former RPA commander who was part of the battle for the capital.
Radio Muhabura was the home of Radio Muhabura officers from the RPA. This radio kept Rwandans, both in Rwanda and exile, informed about the progress of the war. Radio played an important role in the conflict. / File
Notably, the fighting at Mont Kigali lasted only five hours. However, the RPA had gradually weakened the base following the captures of several other key military facilities in and around the city.
“Some of the RPA troops had bypassed Mont Kigali and advanced as far as Runda, whose capture effectively left Mount Kigali fully encircled,” said the former commander, who has since retired from the army. “And so when it was time to attack Mont Kigali, the FAR units there were already in a weakened position.”
According to liberation war records and military specialists, five RPA battle wins were especially important in the eventual capital Mont Kigali and the capital July 4, 1994.
1. Mt Rebero – April 12
The capture of Mt Rebero by the companies of the 3rd Battalion (‘the 600’) and several failed attempts by FAR to retake the position marked the first major blow to the genocidal forces deployed across the city, including on Mont Kigali. Mt Rebero was a dominant feature of the capital’s military warfare. It was also the base for elite FAR artillery positions. “Rebero was the jewel in the crown of FAR,” commented one army veteran.
2. Kanombe Barracks, Kigali International Airport, May 22-23
On the night of May 22/23 1994, RPF forces overtook and captured Kigali International Airport (and Kanombe Barracks). Kanombe was FAR’s main logistics base and home to para-commandos (special forces), and its capture meant cutting off vital military supplies to other FAR positions, including Mont Kigali.
3. Mount Jali – June 20
Standing at an altitude of 2071m (6795ft), Mount Jali is the highest mountain in Kigali, a dominating feature to the southwest of the capital. Its fall on June 20 – as well as the capture of the nearby Mt Shyorongi around the same time – put a huge dent in FAR defensive positions not only at Mont Kigali but across the city.
4. Gitarama – July 13
Mont Kigali was effectively surrounded, isolated and weakened from all sides by the liberation Gitarama on 13 July 1994. The RPA units marching on Gitarama had strategically moved behind enemy lines and avoided Mont Kigali tactically. They took Runda and Gitarama, where the genocidal regime had relocated to earlier in their departure from Kigali, before attacking Mont Kigali at the rear. Gitarama was liberated by units from different RP’s Combined Mobile Forces, including Ibingira’s 157, Muhire’s 101 and 59 under Ngonga.
5. Seizure and weakening FAR position across Kigali
By the time the Genocide against the Tutsi was set in motion on April 7, 1994 after extremists in the Habyarimana regime launched an attack on his Falcon-50 plane, killing him and his Burundian counterpart – thus creating a pretext for the imminent slaughter –, Kigali was a heavily fortified city.
Other than the FAR positions at Kanombe Barracks and Mt Rebero/Mt Jali, Mont Kigali and Mt Jali, the city was full of other heavily armed FAR posts. They included Kami, Kimihurura-based Camp GP and Camp Kigali (presidential Guard), as well as military installations on the outskirts of the city, namely Gikomero, Bumbogo, and Kabuye.
Many military experts have hailed the RPA’s strategic strategy as a strategic masterstroke. The RPA avoided certain military installations and instead bought time by fixing and isolating them.
“For instance, the RPA did not directly attack Camp GP; they just kept them at bay and isolated them until the presidential guards pulled out by themselves,” observed Médard Bashana, the Manager at the Campaign Against Genocide Museum, which showcases extraordinary acts of bravery and courage by RPA forces during the liberation struggle.
FAR forces vacated Kami (around April 21) and Camp Kacyiru (around April 21).
Camp Kigali had been severely damaged after the seizure by Mt Rebero and is said to have fallen within hours of the capture of Mont Kigali.
“The fall of Mont Kigali was the final nail in the coffin for FAR’s case,” Bashana said. “The battle for Mont Kigali did not take long because all the RPF forces’ concerted efforts were focused on it as the only remaining key terrain guarding the capital.”
Maj Gen (rtd) Kaka was RPA’s Overall Operations Commander for Kigali when the capital fell.
Now-President Kagame, who was based at Musha, just outside of Kigali when the capital was taken on July 4, 1994, was on the same day seen leading the RPA liberators in a triumphant walk through the city centre, a moment captured in one of the most iconic pictures from the liberation days, on display at the museum.
The capture of Kigali marked the liberation of Rwanda and stopping of the Genocide against the Tutsi, although some parts of the country in the northwest, west and southwest (including Zone Turquoise regions), were taken later.
The defeat of genocidal machinery saw the majority of the regime and perpetrators of militia and forces behind the killing of more than a quarter of a million Tutsi during the Genocide Against the Tutsi, cross into DR Congo (then Zaire).
jmunyaneza@newtimesrwanda.com
Source: rnewtimes
