It was all pomp and fanfare as thousands of people from all walks of life gathered at the Tanzania Military Academy in Monduli District, Arusha Region, to witness the commissioning of 179 officer cadets for the TMA intake 54/13.The Commander-in-Chief of the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces, President Jakaya Kikwete, graced the occasion flanked by the Defence Minister, Dr Hussein Ali Mwinyi, the Chief of Defence Forces General, Davis Mwamunyange and the Commandant of the Tanzania Military Academy, Brigadier General Paul Peter Massao.
This time, all the 179 commissioned cadets at Monduli among them 24 female officers were Tanzanians with Officer Cadet Mohammed Ramadhan Mgalawe named the overall best trainee in the programme, while Officer Cadet Agnetha Alfred Chebyala was awarded by the president for being the best female trainee.
Officer Cadets, Eliudi Joseph Nzumbi and Mikidadi Chimwejo Mafwolo were billed as ‘Best in Academic Performance’ and ‘Best in the Field Marching’ respectively.
Based in Monduli, TMA is Tanzania’s top military training institution where President Kikwete, after successfully completing a similar course, was commissioned there as a lieutenant in 1976.
The president also undertook the Company Commander’s Course in 1983 at the same academy, whereby in his military career, he rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.
From 1984 to 1986, President Kikwete was Chief Political Instructor and Political Commissar at the Military Academy, where he retired from the military as a lieutenant-colonel when political pluralism was reintroduced in 1992, where he chose to become a full time politician.
Before the establishment of TMA, Tanzania used to send its military personnel to be trained in Israel, India, Egypt, Sudan, Russia and in the United Kingdom, but today the Monduli-based academy has grown to become one of the most respected and reliable military academy in the world, catering for officers from various countries and continents.
The historical background of the Academy dates way back to 1969, when the first Officer Cadet School (OCS) was established at Kurasini in Dar es Salaam before shifting base to Monduli,Arusha in September 1976.
In 1972, institution for party cadres was established in Monduli District, some 40 kilometres west of Arusha town and 8km south of the current TMA location.
The institution which went by the name “Party Cadres Military School (PCMS)” was charged with the task of training middle and high ranking Party and Government functionaries with the aim of improving and strengthening their leadership, command qualities and articulations.
By MARC NKWAME, Tanzania Daily News
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