This archive report was first published on 28 May 2020.
On May 28, 2020, Defence Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma addressed the graduating class of the National Defence College (NDC) in Karen, Nairobi, urging them to support COVID-19 efforts in their respective countries.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony, CS Juma emphasized the importance of deploying the knowledge and competencies acquired at NDC to play critical security roles during and after the pandemic.
"You return to your institutions and countries with a real challenge in hand, in the current pandemic of Covid-19. This is a critical test case for our nations and the world and while the scale of its impact is still to be estimable, we know by this point that it has plunged humanity more than a century back. But we also know that crisis even as this one forges their own leaders," she told the graduates.
CS Juma further urged the graduates to engage with the challenge, which has far-reaching implications across all sectors of society, and to make their input in the search for a recovery plan and strategies to mitigate any other crisis that may come.
She noted that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the course progressed seamlessly, and called on the graduates to continue demonstrating their worth in the protection and advancement of their nations.
Eleven members of the graduating class were drawn from 10 African countries outside Kenya.
"This requires boldness of thought, engaging outside our comfort zones and yes, it will call for courageous, even unpopular decisions and actions. Africa and the world at large is in dire need for more men and women, who will not only create great policies and strategies but will also implement them and get the job done expeditiously," she said.
