16/06/2026
Zambia Defence University: A Strategic Institution That Must Not Be Delayed
By Dr. Martin Mushumba and Lt General Geoffrey Choongo Zyeele
The establishment of the Zambia Defence University rises above an ordinary education project. It is a strategic national security undertaking whose urgency must be understood beyond the usual language of administrative processes, committee files and future budget cycles. At this point, Zambia not to merely have another university in name. The country needs a defence university capable of producing the intellectual edge, technological readiness and strategic leadership required to protect the Republic in an age where the character of war is changing rapidly.
Zambia has already made the legal and policy movement towards this institution. The Zambia Defence University was declared through Statutory Instrument No. 3 of 2018, which converted the Military Training Establishment of Zambia into the Zambia Defence University. More recently, Zambia’s Defence Policy 2025 Implementation Plan recognised the need to expedite the establishment of ZDU and related institutions of military learning. This means the question before the nation is no longer whether ZDU is necessary. The question is whether Zambia will move with the urgency that national security demands.
The warning from Zambia’s own development history is clear. A university can be announced, planned and even symbolically launched, yet fail to become a functioning centre of knowledge if it is left to the slow grind of bureaucracy and inconsistent financing. The experience surrounding King Lewanika University remains a national cautionary lesson: a project may begin with promise, but without sustained implementation, it can become a monument of delay rather than a generator of national transformation.
Clearly, ZDU must not follow that path. Its establishment must be treated as a special national project because defence education is not merely about classrooms, lectures and graduation ceremonies. It is about national survival, territorial integrity, technological sovereignty, intelligence capacity, command preparedness and the ability of the State to anticipate threats before they arrive at its borders.
The Constitution assigns the Defence Force the solemn duty to preserve and defend Zambia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. That duty cannot be fulfilled through courage alone, however noble. It requires trained minds, modern infrastructure, high-technology laboratories, advanced simulation facilities, secure digital systems, research capacity, military medicine, cyber capability, strategic studies, defence economics and a doctrine of continuous learning. A National Assembly committee report has already observed the importance of defence infrastructure and training facilities to operational readiness, including concerns over inadequate modern training facilities in parts of the Defence Force.
The wars and security crises of the present century have taught the world one hard lesson: peace is a national aspiration, but preparedness is a national obligation. Zambia is a peaceful country and must remain so. Yet peace is best protected by institutions that prepare the nation to deter aggression, respond to emergencies, support regional stability and master the technologies that increasingly shape modern conflict.
The ongoing lessons from Ukraine, the Middle East and other theatres show that military strength is no longer measured only by the number of soldiers in formation, armoured vehicles on parade or aircraft in hangars. These remain important, but they are no longer sufficient.
The decisive advantage increasingly lies in the integration of technology, intelligence, data, cyber resilience, unmanned systems, electronic systems, command networks, logistics, medical readiness and the speed with which a defence system learns and adapts. Analysts of the Ukraine war have emphasised continuous testing, experimentation and adaptation as central to modern military effectiveness, while others have shown how smaller states can challenge larger adversaries when they fast track technology assimilation, innovate faster and integrate the private sector into defence capability.
This is why ZDU must be built as a capability, not merely registered as an institution. It must become the intellectual command centre of Zambia’s defence transformation. It must produce officers who understand strategy and science; commanders who can interpret intelligence and technology; logisticians who can manage complex supply chains; engineers who understand the scientific principles behind defence technologies; doctors trained in military medicine; cyber specialists who can protect critical systems; and policy leaders who understand defence economics, international security, peace support operations and national resilience.
Globally, serious defence systems invest in serious defence education. The United States National Defence University educates joint war fighters, national security leaders and cyber professionals for strategic leadership and national security responsibilities. The United Kingdom’s Defence Academy trains in leadership, strategy, information warfare, cyber and multi-domain integration, while working with civilian academic partners. NATO’s Defence Education Enhancement Programme supports partner countries to build, reform and professionalise military education institutions. These examples demonstrate that defence universities are not ceremonial institutions; they are engines of national readiness.
Zambia is not starting from nothing. The Zambia Defence Forces have already undertaken benchmarking with the National Defence University-Kenya. That visit exposed the Zambian delegation to an established African model where defence education, research, intelligence studies, technical training and health sciences are integrated into a broader national defence education system. Kenya’s NDU includes colleges and centres such as the Defence Forces Technical College, Defence College of Health Sciences and Defence Intelligence Academy, demonstrating the kind of specialised ecosystem Zambia must aspire to build.
For that reason, ZDU must not be reduced to ordinary lecture rooms and borrowed facilities. A defence university without laboratories, simulation centres, secure digital platforms, medical training facilities, research centres and field-based practical training would be a university in name but not in strategic effect. Its infrastructure must match its mandate. Its technology must match the modern battlespace. Its curriculum must match the threats of the century.
The university should offer advanced programmes in military sciences, defence and security studies, military medicine, technology and defence management, cyber defence, space security, international security policy, defence economics, logistics, intelligence studies, military operations, leadership, peace support operations and emerging security technologies. These programmes must be competency-based, strongly practical and anchored in real-world defence problems. They must include simulations, field exercises, war-gaming, scenario planning, ethical decision-making, research projects and structured collaboration with defence institutions, civilian universities, industry and regional partners.
It is also imperative that ZDU must become a bridge between the military and the wider national development system. Defence universities are not isolated barracks of knowledge. They are places where military officers, civilian national security actors, scientists, engineers, doctors, economists, policy experts and technology innovators can work together to solve complex national problems. Zambia requires such a platform because national security today includes border integrity, cyber protection, public health emergencies, climate-related disasters, food security, energy security, critical infrastructure protection and regional peace support.
This is where the university’s role in military medicine becomes particularly important. Military medicine is not ordinary healthcare delivered in uniform. It is a specialised field concerned with the health, survival, mobility and readiness of personnel operating under difficult conditions, including emergencies, disasters and peace support operations. A strong ZDU should therefore help Zambia build medical officers and health specialists who understand the unique demands of military environments while also contributing to national emergency preparedness.
The same applies to cyber defence. Zambia’s future security will depend not only on physical borders, but also on the protection of digital borders. Government systems, power networks, communication systems, financial platforms, transport systems and critical public infrastructure can be threatened without a single soldier crossing a boundary. ZDU must therefore train officers and specialists who understand the cyber domain, data security, information integrity and the legal and ethical responsibilities that come with digital defence.
Therefore, a strategic institution of this nature cannot be left to move at the speed of routine bureaucracy. The Government must establish a dedicated implementation mechanism for ZDU, supported by a clear budget line, protected financing, an infrastructure master plan, a technology development plan, quality assurance systems, partnerships with established defence universities and a phased but time-bound operationalisation roadmap. This roadmap must be monitored at the highest levels because national security projects fail when they are treated as ordinary paperwork.
The call is not for reckless spending on the Ministry of Defence. It is a call for strategic investment. Every money spent on ZDU should be tied to measurable capability: a laboratory built, a simulation centre equipped, a programme accredited, a faculty developed, a research centre activated, a partnership signed, a cohort trained, a doctrine improved and a national security problem solved. That is accountability and this is how a defence university becomes a force multiplier.
Zambia’s defence posture must be anchored in professionalism, discipline, patriotism and knowledge. The men and women who wear the uniform carry the honour of the Republic. They deserve an institution that gives them the best intellectual and technological preparation available. The country they defend deserves no less.
Therefore, the ZDU must be accelerated, funded and built to the standard of its purpose. It must not be allowed to exist only in declarations, minutes and good intentions. Zambia needs a defence university that stands on the ground, functions in reality, produces knowledge, strengthens the Defence Force and prepares the nation for the security demands of the future.
Peace remains Zambia’s highest wish. Preparedness must remain Zambia’s highest duty. The Zambia Defence University is where that duty must now be given institutional life. It is a cradle of defence capability for Zambia.
Dr. Martin Mushumba is a Public Policy and Education Quality Assurance Expert and Lt. General Geoffrey Choongo Zyeele is the Zambia Army Commander
