University of Ghana Debate Society wins Inter-School Spring Debate Championship
The University of Ghana Debate Society has been crowned champions of the maiden Inter-School Spring Debate Championship. The Championship which was organised and hosted by the Student Executive Council of the Lancaster University Ghana was their first debate activity as a Debate Society.
In a welcome address, the Student Executive Council President of the Lancaster University Ghana Mr. Papa Nyan Niezer was grateful to the University of Ghana Debate Society for honouring the invitation to participate in the Championship. He was hopeful the Championship would foster a good relationship between the two Debate Societies in the transfer of knowledge and resources.
Miss. Yolanda Ofosu Kwadey
The UG Debate Society represented by Yolanda Ofosu Kwadey, Cecil Adrian Sampson and Anastasia Ahenkan Nkrumah spoke against the motion “This House as Africa (African Union) would not pick sides in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian conflict.” Team UG argued primarily that for the sake of basic decency and humanity, the African continent has an obligation to speak up on the Russo-Ukrainian war. They further added that the conflict has had ripple effects on various aspects of our lives such as the hike in fuel costs and consequently living costs and such speaking up is also in line with protecting ourselves and all other affected parties suffering from the result of the conflict.
In closing their arguments, Team UG vehemently opposed the motion with a principle in line with ideas postulated by other great thinkers such as Martin Luther King Jr., stating that whenever and wherever there is aggression in the world, silence under the guise of neutrality is an unspoken position, an implicit affirmation of the actions of the aggressor.
The Judges for the Championship, Ms. Precious Bonsu (Educational Consultant, Author and Founder of Whale Learning Group) and Mr. Henry Nii Dottey (Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications at UBA Ghana Limited) congratulated both Universities for delivering excellent speeches. They were intrigued by the confidence, clarity of thought and practical examples given to support the arguments made. They encouraged both Societies to continue the sport of debate on their respective campuses to help promote intellectual discourse as they contribute to national and international discussions.
Team UG receiving the trophy
Team UG came first with a total score point of 20.87 while Lancaster University Ghana placed second with 20.75. Participants received medals and certificates of participation. UG received a trophy for winning the maiden Championship.
Mr. Lawrence Nii Kotey Neequaye, Coach of UG Debate Team explained that he was excited that his side won and was happy to see the passion and zest with which the debate team from Lancaster approached the exercise. It was evidently a clash of brilliant and well-informed ideas and perspectives, and more importantly a learning experience for our team, Mr. Neequaye added.
On the goal of the exercise, the former President of the UG Debate Society stated that “in line with our mandate as thought leaders, and to contribute to the growth and development of our community, I personally recognize the crucial role this discourse has to play, and particularly discourse on real life issues that affect each and every one of us. To this end, we're embarking on various exercises to interact with other likeminded youth even outside of our University community and to contribute to creating the next generation of thinkers and impactful leaders. The debate with Lancaster is one of the many means through which we're doing this.”
The format of the championship took the World School Debate style.
