Haruna Iddrisu, the Minister of Education, has inaugurated the 15-member Governing Council of the National Defence University (NDU), announcing US$25 million in government seed funding to support the institution’s take-off.
The University is expected to consolidate the Ghana Armed Forces’ (GAF) tertiary education programmes and strengthen strategic leadership, defence education, research, and national security policy development.
Mr Iddrisu, who inaugurated the Council on behalf of President John Dramani Mahama in Accra, said the University would provide a dedicated centre of excellence for high-level strategic studies, operational readiness and African-led peace and security policy formulation.
”We are not just responding to an act of war mongering, but we’re establishing a dedicated strategic national university that will dedicate itself into awarding standardized degrees under the authority of the Ghana Armed Forces.
“It is the President’s expectation that the establishment of this university will strengthen military-civil relations for the good of Ghana’s democratic future and the consolidation of Ghana’s democratic gains,” he said.
Mr Iddrisu said the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) would also provide a special allocation under its 2027 funding formula to sponsor at least 10 faculty members to attain PhD qualifications or professorial ranks.
He charged the Council to oversee the transition of the constituent institutions into a unified university while preserving the culture of merit and meritocracy associated with the GAF.
”The measure of this Council will not be the number of meetings, reports, or the documents it approves. It will be seen in the standards it establishes, the progress it enables, and the institution it leaves behind,” he said.
The Council is expected to establish a robust governance framework, develop a practical transition agreement for integrating the constituent colleges, safeguard academic quality and integrity, and prepare a focused strategic plan.
Professor John Owusu Gyapong, Chairman of the Governing Council, expressed appreciation for the appointment and pledged to work with members to build an institution founded on equity and public trust.
”Our purpose is to strengthen what is already in existence and create opportunities that no single institution could realise on its own.
”The measure of our success will not lie solely in the establishment of new structures. It will be found in the quality of our graduates, the relevance of our research, the credibility of our qualifications and the contributions this university makes to the security and well-being of our nation,” he said.
The NDU is intended to produce graduates equipped with critical thinking skills, ethical judgement, and strategic foresight to manage complex security, defence, and governance challenges at national, regional, and international levels.
Mr Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, the Minister of Defence, said at the inauguration that establishing the University was a critical investment in Ghana’s future, given the changing nature of warfare and emerging security threats.
He said technological advances and the convergence of military, political, economic and cyber threats required security leaders with both professional competence and intellectual depth.
”In a world where security threats are changing rapidly, where technology is reshaping the battlefield, where the lines between military, political, economic and cyber threats are becoming increasingly difficult to separate, we cannot afford to prepare our people for yesterday’s challenges and expect them to overcome tomorrow’s.
”Weapons may strengthen our capabilities, but knowledge helps us understand when and how to use them. Training develops competence, but character determines how that competence is exercised,” he said.
The establishment of the University followed more than a decade of planning, initially proposed by retired Major General Emmanuel Wekem Kotia, PhD.
Following a comprehensive review of existing GAF institutions by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), the University received a Presidential Charter on December 19, 2024, authorising it to award diplomas and degrees independently.
Parliament passed the National Defence University Bill on August 17, 2026, and President Mahama assented to it on August 26, 2026, thereby making it the National Defence University-Ghana Act, 2026 (Act 1176).
The University will initially operate through six accredited colleges and institutions: the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFSC), the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), the National College of Defence Studies (NCDS), the Ghana Military Academy (GMA), the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), and the Ghana Armed Forces College of Medicine (GAFCOM) and School of Anaesthesia (SOA).
The NDU, whose motto is “Knowledge, Service and Integrity,” is temporarily operating from the Command Officers’ Mess at Burma Camp in Accra, while its main campus at Whistler Barracks, Teshie, is under construction.
The inauguration was attended by senior military officers, government representatives and academic stakeholders.