A wave of independence swept across Africa in the early 1960s – triggering not only freedom-induced euphoria, but also considerable instability. What happens when you reclaim power from a colonial power and find that there is little to no security and intelligence infrastructure in place? And how does a newly-independent state build its security apparatus almost from scratch?

In Episode 5, Dr. Thomas Maguire looks at how the country known today as Tanzania manically shopped around for new allies, money and expertise shortly after gaining independence. And how its leaders soon discovered that ‘aid’ from countries such as Britain, Israel, China or Moscow was by no means provided for free.