COMMANDER-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President John Magufuli, made a historical commissioning of officers at the Tanzania Military Academy in Monduli where all the 586 cadets happened to be scientists from various fields.
And while the TMA legislation provides for trainee-intake from anywhere in the world, all the 586 officer cadets comprising lieutenant colonels were Tanzanians, six of whom were female, this time around.
The commissioning ceremony for Intake No. 58/15 took place at the Tanzania Military Academy Parade Square in Monduli with tens of thousands of residents witnessing the event. TMA Commandant, Major General Paul Peter Massao, told the president that all the officer cadets who graduated yesterday were scientists.
“There are 80 medical doctors, six pilots while the remaining 500 are also experts from other science fields,” reported the commandant.
Before the ultimate commissioning, President Magufuli presented special recognition awards to the best performing officer cadets among them the overall best student - Kalema Fadhili Mfinanga, the Best in Academic performance - James Mishi Kisinje and the outstanding cadet in the field - Modestus George Katembo.
The commander-in-chief also awarded the intake’s best female student, Nasra Rashid Mbonde.
There were only six female cadets in the whole batch. It was the second commissioning ceremony President Magufuli graced this year and also the second since becoming president.
The first was Intake 57/15 of last January 2016, which produced a total of 205 finalists, among them 189 males and 16 females.
Based in Monduli District, Arusha Region, TMA is a military training academy, regarded as a prestigious training institution, having trained many officers from a number of countries across the East, Central and Southern African Region.