The president appointed Juvénal Marizamunda as the new defence minister, replacing Maj Gen Albert Murasira, who was in the post since 2018.

A new army chief, Lt Gen Mubarakh Muganga, is taking over from Gen Jean Bosco Kazura who ran the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) since November 2019.

A reshuffle in which a defence minister and army chief are fired at the same time is not common in Rwanda.

No reasons have been given for the reshuffle. In previous changes to the upper echelons of the military, Mr Kagame would at times publicly hint at the reason.

In the Monday night reshuffle, Mr Kagame also appointed a new army chief of staff (land forces) as well as head of military intelligence.

In another move, he changed the top commanders of Rwandan troops deployed in Mozambique to help fight militant Islamists.