Former President Jakaya Kikwete has said one of factors that can affect the country’s peace and security includes limiting people’s freedom.
The retired Head of State, who led the country from 2005 to 2015, said this at the 10th anniversary of the National Defence College (NDC) in Kunduchi, Dar es Salaam on Thursday morning and suggested policies should be made not to discriminate against people as far as freedom is concerned.
“The country’s security involves a lot of things, TPDF is responsible for protecting our borders, we have the Intelligence Services…Policies that isolate and deprive people of their freedom create environments for the country to not be secured,” Kikwete said.
Moreover, the Rtd President said the national security is subject to the to a good relationship with other countries globally and suggested:
“You [officers] must do everything possible to make all the countries in the world your friends.
“When you’re assured security, sometimes, you don’t even have to bother buying heavy arms because you have nobody to fight against since there is no threat from outside,” Mr Kikwete added.
The road to NDC can be traced back to the establishment of the Tanzania Peoples Defence Forces (TPDF) in the mid-sixties.
However, the concrete idea of establishing NDC in Tanzania was mooted in the 1990s. Prior to opening NDC Tanzania, officers from Tanzania Peoples Defence Forces have been attending NDC abroad specifically in Kenya, India, UK, Bangladesh, Pakistan, to mention but a few.
The concept of establishing NDC has existed for more than three decades.
In 1998 the TPDF HQs formed a committee which examined possibilities of establishing NDC. The committee team underscored the desirability and importance of having the NDC in the Country.
However, it was not easy to establish such an institution at that time due to financial constraints and heavy running costs of the college.
In 2008 the idea of establishing a NDC was again revived.
