title: Chief of Defence Staff (Rwanda)
text: # Chief of Defence Staff (Rwanda)
  
  The Chief of the Defence Staff is the highest-ranked officer in the Rwanda Defence Force.
  
  ## Chief of Staff of the Rwandan Army
  
  | No. | Portrait | Name (birth–death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Ref. |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | No. | Portrait | Name (birth–death) | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
  | Chief of Staff of the Rwandan Army |||||||
  | 1 | | Major general Déogratias Nsabimana (1945–1994) | April 1992 | 6 April 1994 † | 2 years | |
  | 2 | | Colonel Marcel Gatsinzi (born 1948) | 7 April 1994 | 17 April 1994 | 10 days | |
  | 3 | | Major general Augustin Bizimungu (born 1952) | 17 April 1994 | July 1994 | 2 months | |
  
  ## Chief of Defence Staff of the Rwandan Patriotic Army/Rwanda Defense Force
  
  | No. | Portrait | Name (birth–death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Ref. |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | No. | Portrait | Name (birth–death) | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
  | Chief of Defence Staff |||||||
  | 1 | | Major general Sam Kanyemera | | 1998 | | |
  | 2 | | Lieutenant general Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa (born 1962) | 1998 | 2002 | 3–4 years | |
  | 3 | | General James Kabarebe (born 1959) | October 2002 | 10 April 2010 | 7 years, 6 months | |
  | 4 | | Lieutenant general Charles Kayonga (born 1962) | April 2010 | June 2013 | 3 years, 2 months | |
  | 5 | | General Patrick Nyamvumba (born 1967) | 22 June 2013 | 4 November 2019 | 6 years, 4 months | |
  | 6 | | General Jean Bosco Kazura | 4 November 2019 | 5 June 2023 | 3 years, 8 months | |
  | 7 | | Lieutenant-General Mubarak Muganga (born 1967) | 5 June 2023 | Incumbent | 1 month | |
  