Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has won the 12th edition of the Pan African Universities Debate Championship (PAUDC) 2019. Team-KNUST won the Championship after defeating 103 universities drawn from 14 countries across the African continent. The victory marks a second time KNUST has achieved this success; KNUST won the Championship for the first time in Tanzania in 2018. It was also, the first West African University to win the Championship outside South Africa, since the inception of the Championship.
The Championship involved universities from Nigeria, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Togo, Rwanda, Sierra-Leone, Liberia, Botswana, Uganda, Tanzania, Mauritius, Kenya, and Ghana, squaring off in multiple rounds on the theme ‘Promoting the new African Narrative’.
The theme sets out to reflect Africa’s growing shift towards a discussion that projects a positive image of the continent’.
After nine rounds of preliminaries, 32 teams from Universities from Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda and Kenya broke to the knockout stage. For the semi-finals, Ghana had three teams; two from KNUST and one from the University of Ghana.
The two teams from KNUST and a team each from the University of Ghana and Strathmore University, Kenya, made it to the finals.
The final round saw the debaters from KNUST, Michael Ampah and Erasmus Segbefia speak on the motion “Ghanaian Armed Forces have detected an intercontinental ballistic missile launch. The missile is for downward Accra. An attempted interception has failed. The warhead is expected to detonate in fifteen minutes. You are a civilian emergency response official for the state of Ghana. This house would not inform the public.” Erasmus Segbefia and Michael Ampah were crowned winners by a unanimous decision after the proceedings making them automatically qualified for the World Debate Championship to be hosted by Assumption University, Bangkok, Thailand. Erasmus becomes the first debater in the history of the competition to win it back to back thus cementing his status as one of Africa’s greatest ever debaters. KNUST also becomes the first institution to host and win.
The inspiration of the debate championship dubbed ‘Akofena’ is credited to His Royal Majesty, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, as part of celebrations to climax the 20th Anniversary celebration of his ascension unto the Golden Stool. The Akofena signifies valour and courage and it was in line with the theme for the Championship of: Promoting the New African Narrative.
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Kwasi Obiri-Danso in a speech, thanked the Local Organising Committee (LOC), chaired by Professor Kofi Owusu-Daaku and encouraged the students to continue to excel in debate while also becoming intellectual giants of Africa. He congratulated his students for placing the University on a global map and reinforcing our ranking as the best university in West Africa.
The Pan African Universities Debate Championship is the biggest inter-collegiate debate championship in Africa. It was established by the University of Botswana Debate Masters Association in 2008. It is a competition that provides students from various African Universities the opportunity to interrogate issues of African and global importance.
Congratulations to the award winners for making KNUST and Ghana proud.