President Lazarus Chakwera has called on newly commissioned officer cadets to be trustworthy and take seriously their leadership role of securing the country.

He said this yesterday at the Malawi Armed Forces College (Mafco) in Salima when he commissioned 81 officer cadets, comprising 72 from Malawi and nine from other countries, marking their completion of a 15-month military training. Of these, 21 are women.

Chakwera inspects a parade before commissioning cadets

“Remember that as officers, what you have received today is not just a commissioning, but a trust. From here, you will be entrusted with the welfare and protection of your fellow citizens. You will be entrusted with the rescue of lives.

You will be entrusted with the proper use of public resources. You will be entrusted with the security of our borders. And the first thing you must prove to yourself, to God, and to your country is your faithfulness,” Chakwera said.

He further urged the officers to keep their passion for service alive and to be exemplary so as to inspire others to reach their full potential.

“It is possible to be highly educated and skilled, but not be faithful, and if you are not faithful, then the people you serve lose their trust in you, and once trust is lost, so is your ability to lead, because what makes you a leader is the trust that others have in you,” said Chakwera.

Speaking earlier, Minister of Defence Harry Mkandawire thanked the President, saying the training was timely because Malawi is involved in regional peace-keeping activities.

“I have no doubt that this graduation of a highly-motivated and disciplined group we have here will enhance Malawi’s participation in peace-keeping at international level as well as various internal operations the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) is engaged in,” he said.

On his part, MDF Commander General Vincent Nundwe hailed the resilience shown by the new officers, saying their commissioning is a sign of hard work and dedication.

“It’s not easy to complete this course. During this period they showed hard work and demonstrated strong resilience to complete this highly-demanding course,” he said.

According to Nundwe, the course started with 106 but only 81 have managed to complete it. He said participations of officers from Zimbabwe, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda and Zambia is a demonstration of trust in MDF “that we can provide quality training”.

Nundwe has since called on the new officers to protect the image of MDF and respect civilians who they are entrusted to protect.

He also deplored the tendency of some security agents of aiding and abetting foreigners in illegally obtaining important national documents such as passports, which puts the country at risk.

The course’s overall best students were MDF’s Francis Junior Kanyada Salimu and Kenyan Dingisha Mussa.

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