REPUBLIC OF MALAWI

ADDRESS BY

HIS EXCELLENCY PROFESSOR

MUTHARIKA PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC

OF MALAWI, COMMANDER - IN - CHIEF OF THE MALAWI

DEFENCE FORCE

DURING THE OFFICER CADETS’ COMMISSIONING

PARADE

AT

MAFCO, SALIMA

Friday, 11thDecember, 2015

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ESSOR PETER

PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC

CHIEF OF THE MALAWI

THE OFFICER CADETS’ COMMISSIONING

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Your Excellency the First Lady, Madame

Gertrude MUTHARIKA

Your Honour the Vice President, Right

Honourable Dr Saulos Claus Chilima;

All Cabinet Ministers here present.

Leaders of political parties here present;

Members of Parliament here present;

The Inspector General of Malawi Police

Services , Mr Lexton Kachama

Chief Commissioner of Prisons

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Senior Officers, Officers, Men and

Women of the Malawi Defence Force

and your spouses

Your Excellences, Members of the

Diplomatic Corp;

Senior Retired Officers here present

Distinguished guests

Newly commissioned Officers

Chief Maganga and all traditional

leaders;

Distinguished guests, Ladies and

Gentlemen.

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Show me Malawi’s coat of arms, and I will show you a nation

of conquerors. Show me the coat of arms, and I will show

you a heroic nation of determination and conquest.

Every time I see the lion, the leopard, and the eagle in our

coat of arms, I see symbols of a determined and conquering

nation. And it is this spirit of determination and conquest that

gathers us here today.

This commissioning ceremony, is a symbol of how 45 patriotic

Malawians sacrificed comfort, endured, persevered, and

marched to the last conquest of their goal. This is the spirit

that runs in the blood, bone and marrow of the Malawi

Defense Force. And I am proud to be your Commander in-

Chief. I am proud to be with you all today. And every

Malawian is proud of you.

And to you who graduated with perseverance and

conquest, I say congratulations. In a special way, I

congratulate the 8 female cadets who successfully

accomplished the training and rose above the challenges to

the last triumphant march. I, as your Commander – In-Chief,

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shall always ensure that deserving women in the military are

given all deserved opportunities.

These graduating cadets are part of a story of pride to tell. It

is a story of national excellence. Our Malawi Armed Forces

College is a centre of military excellence. I am pleased to

note that MAFCO continues to hold a special place in the

heart of training excellence since its establishment in

September 1979. MAFCO, you are the makers of

professionalism, discipline and dedication that characterizes

our army. The attendance of students from other countries

speaks more about your excellence in this part of the world.

Keep it up! And I also commend the staff of the college for

making the College deliver with your sense of patriotism,

integrity and hard work. Keep on marching to the heights of

better and higher excellence. There is always room for

improvement. After all, the biggest room in the world is the

room for self-improvement.

In the same spirit, I wish to urge you to obey all lawful orders

and stay committed to the service of the State. I also urge

you to preserve peace and maintain the good reputation

that the Malawi Defence Force is renowned for. Even the

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world is proud of your reputed discipline and professionalism.

This should be maintained at all times. Those of you

commissioned today, keep up the fire and spirit.

Apart from your core functions, you have been trained in

Peace Support Operations, Humanitarian Relief Operations,

Civil-Military Relations and Conflict Management and

Resolutions. Times shall come when you will be deployed

anywhere beyond our borders. Be ambassadors of our

national pride. As Malawi, we have gone to preserve peace

in Rwanda, the DRC, Liberia, Burundi, Kosovo and more

recently Sudan. And we marched home in conquest with

glittering medals of high esteem. The international

community has always commended us. We must defend this

spirit of patriotism, keep up the flag of integrity, and march

on with the unrelenting force of hard work.

Let me also commend you for your heroic service when

disaster and tragedy struck our country. In short, you were at

your best during the last floods. That is the best patriotism I

have ever known. When chaos threatened us, you chose to

maintain order. And I know that you do not work with

commitment without challenges.

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As Malawi Defence Force, I am aware of the numerous

challenges you face on the frontline of duty. By the way, I

am the most informed citizen in this country. And I hear the

whispers of your worries. I know whatever is happening in the

barracks and camps. And I wish to assure you I shall do

everything possible to free you from your worries, and to

empower you to perform your duties better. This we shall do

for the sake the territorial integrity of our beloved country.

And this I shall do for your sake, because we value everyone

of you from the lowest to the highest rank.

And to everyone of you, let me say: let us march together,

rise together, for we shall fall together! And always

remember, we are a nation of conquerors made of

determination.

Thank you very much.

God bless you all!