Samia commissions 89 women, 651 men as 2nd lieutenants

Arusha. A colourful march past by soldiers graced the commissioning of 740 military officers in Monduli by President Samia Suluhu Hassan yesterday.

In her brief remarks at the event, which ended shortly after 1 pm, the Head of State rooted for highly trained and skilled soldiers.

Out of the total 740 who were commissioned as second lieutenants, 89 of them are female officers, some from neighbouring countries.

The commissioning by the Head of State and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces took place at the Tanzania Military Academy (TMA) campus at Monduli.

President Hassan, in the company of several cabinet ministers, later conferred degrees in military science on 109 other military officers.

The course was introduced a few years ago by TMA in partnership with the Institute of Accountancy Arusha (IAA).

Among those commissioned were military officers from neighboring countries, including Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and Eswatini.

Some of those commissioned took their military courses outside the country, according to TMA Commandant Brigadier General Jackson Jairo Mwaseba.

Earlier, the officer cadets in their red tunics took a colourful march past before they were commissioned to become second lieutenants.

The slow and quick march was enough entertainment for hundreds of people who turned out for the ceremony under the burning sun. Prior to their commissioning, the 740 officers—89 females and 651 males—took an oath of allegiance to the Commander-in-Chief, pledging loyalty to the country.

They stood firm in front of scores of dignitaries as the military band played the national and East African Community (EAC) anthems.

When the first phase of the twin event ended, they marched outside the open grounds in an Omega fashion, signaling the end of the exercise.

Later, President Hassan conferred degrees on other military officers who had graduated in military science.

The Bachelor of Science course was introduced a few years ago by the IAA in partnership with TMA.

Yesterday was the third graduation ceremony, bringing to 313 the total number of officers who have gone through the course since 2017.

The IAA Rector, Dr J. Mwaitete, said this was the last batch of graduates because the contract on the partnership with TMA has ended.

“The contract for this course ended this year,” he said, noting, however, that the two sides are now in discussions on other areas of cooperation.

The Military Science course was introduced in order to prepare military officers for leadership on matters pertaining to peace and security.

Dr Mwaitete added that the IAA would soon enter into an agreement with the Police Force to train police officers in cyber security.

The undergraduate and postgraduate courses will cover all aspects of information security necessary for the country’s security.

“There is rampant hacking in cyber. No wonder we are impacted. We need experts on this,” the Rector pointed out.

He said Tanzania should not be left behind in advanced technologies like sophisticated computer programmes that can compromise its security.

“We need people who can access computer networks to search for cyberthreats, analyze them, and act swiftly,” he explained.

Arusha. A colourful march past by soldiers graced the commissioning of 740 military officers in Monduli by President Samia Suluhu Hassan yesterday.

In her brief remarks at the event which ended shortly after 1 pm, the Head of State rooted for highly trained and skilled soldiers.

Out of the total 740 who were commissioned as second lieutenants, 89 of them are female officers, some from the neighbouring countries.

The commissioning by the Head of State and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces took place at the Tanzania Military Academy (TMA) campus at Monduli.

President Hassan, in the company of several cabinet ministers, later conferred degrees in military science to 109 other military officers.

The course was introduced a few years ago by TMA in partnership with the Institute of Accountancy Arusha (IAA).

Among those commissioned were the military officers were from the neighbouring countries, including Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and Eswatini

Some of those commissioned took their military courses outside the country, according to TMA Commandant Brigadier General Jackson Jairo Mwaseba.

Earlier the officer cadets in their red tunics took a colourful march past before they were commissioned to become second lieutenants.

The slow and quick march past was enough entertainment for hundreds of people who turned at the ceremony under the burning sun.

Prior to their commissioning, the 740 officers - 8919 females and 651 males - took oath of allegiance to the Commander-in-Chief, pledging loyalty to the country.

They stood firm before scores of dignitaries as the National and the East African Community (EAC) anthems were played by the military band.

When the first phase of the twin event ended, they marched outside the open grounds in an Omega fashion, signalling the end of the exercise.

It was later a turn for President Hassan to confer degrees to other military officers who graduated in Military Science.

The Bachelor of Science course was introduced a few years ago by the Institute of Accountancy Arusha (IAA) in partnership with TMA.

Yesterday was the third graduation ceremony, bringing to 313 the total number of officers who have gone through the course since 2017.

The IAA Rector, Dr J Mwaitete, said this was the last batch of graduates because the contract on the partnership with TMA has ended.

“The contract for this course ended this year,”, he said, noting however that the two sides are now in discussions on other areas of cooperation.

The Military Science course was introduced in order to prepare the military officers in leadership on matters pertaining to peace and security.

Dr Mwaitete added that IAA would soon enter into an agreement with the Police Force to train police officers in cyber security.

The undergraduate and postgraduate courses will cover all aspects of information security necessary for the country’s security.

“There is rampant hacking in cyber. No wonder we are impacted. We need experts on this,”, the Rector pointed out.

He said Tanzania should not be left behind in advanced technologies like sophisticated computer programmes that can compromise its security.

“We need people who can access computer networks to search for cyber threats, analyse them and act swiftly,” he explained.