Celebrating a giant in education: Professor Dickson Mwansa, founder of Zambian Open University

Celebrating a giant in education: Professor Dickson Mwansa, founder of Zambian Open University

By Professor Munyonzwe Hamalengwa

THOUSANDS of people’s educational and career ambitions in Zambia lay in tatters until Professor Dickson Mwansa came along into the picture in the early 2000s to rescue them. He engineered the founding of the first private university in Zambia which was named Zambian Open University (ZAOU), a “University Without Walls”. This university which started operating in 2004 was the initial beneficiary of thousands of working and not working mature and young students who flocked to it to realize their dreams that had been smothered by the absence of any other universities in Zambia except the University of Zambia (UNZA) and it’s offshoot the Copperbelt University (CBU). CBU was established many years after UNZA had been operating. The history of university education in Zambia is yet to be written.

There was indeed a time in Zambia when there was only one university, UNZA and at that time only a few students out of the thousands who otherwise qualified, were accepted. At that time UNZA accepted generally only those students who had passed the external Cambridge School Leaving Certificate with Division 1 and or Division 2 results. At that time up to the early 1980s from 1966 when UNZA opened, those who were not admitted easily found jobs which were available in the thousands, in government, parastatal organizations, private sector and industry.

But there was always hunger for further university education by thousands of others who were working but their dreams of further education were bottled up for lack of universities. Others who were accepted at UNZA were channeled into educational fields they had not chosen to study because of limited allowable numbers at that time in their fields of first choice. Their dreams remained unfulfilled because they were put in wrong schools. UNZA was small and couldn’t just enroll everybody in their schools of first choice. Let us give the example of the school of Law. In the mid-1970s and for very long afterwards, the school of Law allowed only 25 students per year. Hundreds who otherwise qualified, were redirected into other schools. Some of these could only realize their dreams of becoming a lawyer after ZAOU was opened. A lot of people were forced to graduate and later to work in fields that were not of their first choice.  Personal stories most times tell better stories than generalisations.  If I experienced it, I will always tell my story than someone else’s. Law school was my first choice at UNZA when I was accepted there with my Division 1 pass from Canisius but because not all applicants could be accepted given the limited number of 25 students in law school, I was assigned into the School of Education. I cannot describe the frustration and resignation that I felt. And I was not the only one. I found a number of friends crying in their rooms because they were also assigned into different programmes than their first choice, be it economics, psychology, law etc.

This trend continued in Zambia until the Chiluba government passed legislation to allow for private universities to operate and the Pioneering Giant of private education, Professor Dickson Mwansa established Zambian Open university in 2004. Dickson Mwansa set the example of opening a private university and all other private universities that opened thereafter learned from his example. There are now over 100 private universities in Zambia and everybody can generally study in the field of their first choice. Almost everybody can go to university now because of the availability of spaces in every field. Students no longer need Division 1 and 2 to get in.  In the days when UNZA was the only university, students were competing to get in, now it is the universities that are competing to get students.

The students that initially and for many years afterwards went to Zambian Open University because of the door Professor Mwansa opened, had unique characteristics and they exploited the great opportunity that opened before them. These students were mostly working adults whose dream of getting a university education had been deferred but all of a sudden the door opened at ZAOU. These students were highly motivated and it showed in how they came to residential school in their thousands and in the final grades that they achieved. It also showed in their work places where they advanced rapidly up the ranks. ZAOU graduates are employed in every walk of life and in every low, medium and high ranks in government, industry, politics, law, business and education throughout the country. A book should be written someday about the impact of the first private university in Zambia pioneered by Professor Dickson Mwansa.

Again it always helps to give specific examples to illustrate the point in any discussion. Law school at ZAOU can be given to illustrate the great impact on society that the establishment of ZAOU by Professor Mwansa, engendered. This one impact alone which I am about to illustrate, deserves a book on its own.

When the first law school graduates from ZAOU came onto the scene, they were prohibited from attending the Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education (ZIALE) to qualify as lawyers because at that time, the then Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) Act only permitted law graduates from UNZA and accredited law schools abroad to attend ZIALE on the route to practicing law. ZAOU law students had to take that matter to court for resolution and the court decision in favour of the students forced the reform in legislation that now permitted ZAOU students to attend ZIALE and to go to the Bar to practice law. This singular achievement must be celebrated and it still stands as one of ZAOU’s greatest contribution to a visible public good for the benefit of the entire country. Behind this achievement that enabled legal reform of this nature permitting law graduates from private universities in Zambia to practice law, stands Professor Mwansa and his team that established ZAOU. Isn’t this not something to celebrate? Shouldn’t the person behind this big impact legal reform be celebrated? A book ought to be written on this episode. At the time of that episode, the Attorney General was the now current Chief Justice Dr. Mumba Malia, SC and the High Court Judge who granted the application is the current Supreme Court Justice Nigel Mutuna.  The applicants are still around including Advocates for the High Court of Zambia and former Magistrates Benjamin Mwelwa and Maxwell Mainsa both of whom are also currently PhD students in law. Since the principals are here, the book can easily be written through interviews and actual documentation. That suit opened doors to legal education. Along the way that book can lead to further information about the impact of ZAOU law graduates on legal practice in Zambia. There are so many of them handling high profile cases with high impact on many legal terrains. The School of Education, Business, Humanities and Agriculture could post other achievements pertaining to them.

To top it all and to further cement the impact ZAOU has had on the legal profession beyond the reform mentioned above, is that one of the first law graduates from ZAOU and who was one of the applicants in the class action to open the door to legal practice, topped ZIALE students on first attempt at that most forbidding of all legal examinations. His name is Maxwell Mainsa and his post-call work is also worth of celebrating as hinted above.  He joined the Magistracy and then later went on to become a Company Secretary in a big mining company. He completed his Masters of Law (LLM) at a British University and is now pursuing a Doctorate in law while doing private law practice and balancing all that with big scale farming. ZAOU is not only celebrating the Extraordinary Service of Professor Mwansa, it is also celebrating the achievements of ZAOU student graduates.

The contribution of Professor Mwansa to Zambian education and to Zambian culture, art and theatre will be dealt with fully on Friday April 11, 2025 at 13:30 hours at Zambian Open University main campus in Lusaka West when the book on his life and service will be launched. Today’s article is aimed at providing the surrounding background that puts into context the importance of celebrating Professor Dickson Mwansa for establishing the first private university in Zambia.

I have to declare my interest in this matter. I wouldn’t be at ZAOU without the persistent solicitation by Professor Mwansa that I should apply to join ZAOU a decade ago. I had two job offers in Africa to teach law but those jobs were not in Zambia. They were attractive with better pay in foreign American currency but I chose Zambia. One job was particularly enticing as it was located on the coast of Indian Ocean where I would have been feasting on Lobster at will. I love Lobster. And the post came with good working conditions. Here I pay tribute to Professor Mwansa for bringing me home at last.

I had first met Professor Mwansa in Toronto, Canada in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He was ahead of me but we kept in touch intermittently over the years until he started prodding me to come back home in 2011 which I eventually did in 2016. Professor Mwansa is a visionary. He has built an institution with a brand name. He has produced graduates who are serving Zambia in every field you may think of. We have a judge in the High Court. We have magistrates throughout Zambia. We have prominent lawyers who are in the news every so often. We have had ministers from ZAOU and still have. We have members of parliament, Leaders of unions, lecturers and teachers, leaders of industry. The first private university opened doors for other private universities. These other private universities can count their successes and contributions as well.  Professor Mwansa is the bridge between the days when UNZA was the only university and the new dawn when the establishment of Zambian Open University as the first private university unleashed the fulfillment of long crushed, deferred or stunted unfilled dreams. Here is for you Professor Dickson Mwansa.

Professor Munyonzwe Hamalengwa is the Dean of the School of Law at Zambian Open University.