The National Defence University-Kenya (NDU-K) Vice-Chancellor (VC) Lieutenant General Jimson Mutai presided over the opening of a Senior Professional Military Education Commandants’ Forum at Villa Rosa Kempinski in Nairobi.
The three-day forum themed ‘Enhancing Professional Military Education for Strategic Leadership’ is a collaboration between NDU-K and the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS), bringing together senior-level Africa professional military education institutio leaders to exchange perspectives on how to strengthen the education and development of senior military and civilian national security officials.
While addressing the participants, the VC underscored the forum’s strategic importance, stating that professional military education is paramount as it prepares the military leadership to counter both traditional and emerging dynamic security challenges effectively.
“This conference is a landmark event in our collective efforts to shape our military leadership to assess various security challenges we face today. As we convene today we acknowledge the unique challenges and immense opportunities that characterize the current global and regional security environment which are not unique to every state or region, but global.” He said.
Similarly, he observed that Africa’s security landscape is multifaceted and characterized by threats such as terrorism, insurgencies, cybercrime, and regional conflicts that require quality military education, which ensures that the leaders are not only aware of these threats but are also equipped with the requisite skills to counter them effectively.
“It is imperative that we continuously adapt to professional military education curriculum that reflects these advancements by ensuring that military education remains relevant and forward-looking.” He added.
Lt Gen Mutai re-affirmed that NDU-K’s mandate remained training and building capacity as well as conducting research and innovation in the niche areas of National security and strategy, so as to contribute to National Security and development.
He added, “Globally the security environment is characterized by a complex mix of traditional and non-traditional threats influenced by geopolitical, technological, social-economic and environmental factors which make security environment increasingly volatile.”
Day one of the forum featured a series of keynote addresses from renowned experts in military education and strategic studies. Among them, Colonel (rtd) Tim Mitchell a former infantry and Army Foreign Area Officer in Sub-Saharan Africa and Dr Matthew Dearing of the College of International Affairs at National Defence University, Washington DC, expounded on maintaining quality outcomes in professional military education. Maj Gen (Rtd) Amb George Owinow, a former Commandant Kenya Military Academy and High Commissioner in Kampala gave a talk on preparing leaders for future strategic environment.
ACSS is part of the U.S. Department of Defence’s regional enterprise. It espouses a citizen-centric approach across Africa by expanding understanding, providing a trusted enduring partnership, and catalysing strategic solutions.
Participants in the forum are drawn from Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Malawi, Morocco, Zambia, South Africa, Senegal, Nigeria and the United States of America.
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