Maj Gen (Ret’d) Ferdinand Safari
Maj Gen (Ret’d) Ferdinand Safari is a Rwandan national who grew up n Burundi, DR Congo and Uganda. He holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from Maastricht School of Management in the Netherlands and a Master’s degree in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College. He is also a holder of a post graduate diploma in International Relations from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. He attended all professional tactical, operational and strategic military courses for career officers in Rwanda and abroad including but not limited to: All Arms Company Commanders’ course in Zimbabwe (1998), Senior Defence Management Course in Monterey California (2000), Command and Staff courses in Rwanda (2001) and Kenya (2005), Humanitarian Civil Military Coordination Course in United States of America (2012), and UN Senior Mission Leader’s Course (May 2013).
During his career as a military officer, he held various appointments in command, staff and training. The most recent appointments include Director General Policy & Strategy in Ministry of Defence (July 2017- June 2022), Chief of Plans at the Rwanda Defence Force HQ (2015- 2017), Force Chief of Staff in the UN PKO in the Sudan (UNAMID) (2014- 2015), Commandant of the Rwanda Military Academy and PSO Pre-Deployment Training (2012- 2014), Defence Attache in the USA (2007- 2011), and Infantry Battalion Commander on African Union Mission in Sudan (2006). Most of those positions involved the development of doctrines and requirements for the Defence Force, but the main bulk of his staff level experience has been focusing on Plans, Defence/ Security Strategy and policy matters