Uganda Debate Leagues Has 25 Schools at Tournament

From http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/its_friday/Grooming_great_debators_87076.shtml

Grooming great debators

DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA

A hush descended upon the room when the floor was opened to the six debaters; three on each side, all well tucked in blue and white uniforms. “Dual citizenship should be granted to all Africans in the Diaspora,” the first said, and paused to study her audience.

She was one of the confident types, and informed as she easily quoted Martin Luther King Jr., and put up solid arguments that earned her resounding clapping. One of her team mates, however, was a bundle of nerves and carried on with a trembling voice, almost choked on her breath, and said “necessity is the mother of ‘invasion’” instead of invention. That debate by Nabisunsa Girls’ School, crowned a five-day training of patrons of debate clubs in 25 Ugandan schools by the Youth Debate League of Uganda, last week, at Ridar Hotel, Mukono.

Nabisunsa Girls students attended a five-day training of patrons of debate clubs. The training aims at strengthening formal debates in high schools and colleges. PHOTO BY DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA

The participants were drawn from Mbarara High School, Kings College Budo, Sacred Heart SS, St. Henry’s Kitovu, Namilyango College, Nyakasura School, Bweranyangi Girls SS, Town View SS Kapchorwa, among others, and five students from Makerere University, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Kumi University, Uganda Martyrs University Nkozi and Gulu University.

The debate programme, working with its spin-off organisation, the International Debate Education Association (IDEA) and the Open Society Institute of East Africa (OSIEA), aims at building and strengthening formal debate in high schools and colleges in Uganda.

“We seek to inspire research and stimulate analytical and critical thinking among youths through competitive debates, and to help them acquire leadership skills to effectively address problems in their communities,” says Ronald Rwankangi of OSIEA. The debating culture of Ugandan schools and institutions of higher learning, he says, is a lackadaisical affair that has done little to create an open and friendly environment in which students discuss issues important to their lives. “The rigidity of most school timetables does not allow that,” says Rwankangi. “Many consider debate to be a co-curricular activity but we feel debate should be part of the academics to help learners articulate issues, bring up arguments and raise awareness on issues of democracy, social justice and good governance.” Those trained will regenerate debating in their schools by training students and organising regular internal debate contests.

District and regional debate tournaments will also be organised where the winning teams will compete in the National Youth Debate League Championship to be hosted either at Green Hill or St. Lawrence this December. Over 25 secondary schools across the country will participate, and the winner will be crowned national champions and represent Uganda in international debate events. “We want the ministry of education to make debating in schools mandatory so that our children can pick up the culture of debate as is done in South Africa and Europe where you find formal debate institutions and where competitive debates at the national level are a common phenomenon,” says Rwankangi.

Already, a debating competition for all secondary schools in Koboko District is in the works. After participating in an IDEA-organised debate forum as a trainer in Bulgaria, Patrick Bongo Namisi is coaching four members from Koboko Youth in Development to help him train these schools in preparation for the showdown come September 2009. “This is going to be the first ever District Debate Championship and the winning school automatically qualifies for the national championship,” he says. The Youth Debate League facilitated the team that represented the country at the African School Debate Championships in Johannesburg last year, where they beat Namibia and Kenya only to lose to South Africa in the finals. Irene Ikomu, former president of Nabisunsa Girls Debating Club, who was on the team, and has been admitted to Makerere University to study Law on government sponsorship, attributes her success to debating in school, saying it taught her “the art of persuasion.”

The national championship will employ the Karl Popper debate format, which is preferred on the international stage for its simplicity, and its arousal of deep thinking on the part of debaters. It is also very entertaining especially when each of the three debaters on either side take turns cross-examining each other in classic crossfire mode. Professional debate trainer, Isabella Akiteng, helping organise the Gulu Debate Tournament, says she is not at all satisfied with the level of debate in our country: “Even our parliamentarians need to learn to present arguments based on evidence and facts. That’s why in most cases we witness high emotions and personality clashes instead of the real issues that are critical to our national interest and development.”

Ken “The Man” Lukyamuzi, who in his time was the president of the debating society at St Henry’s Kitovu, was there to dispense free tips on “appreciating the potentiality of oratory” and “reaching the apex of performance through persuasion.” “The seriousness you attach to what you say will determine the taste of what you say,” he said. “You cannot simply woo the masses with nothing; you have to do your research, cite the law and certain facts, and cause change through debate.”

The Nabisunsa students at Ridar Hotel are a representation of a new generation of debaters on their way to changing the face of critical discussions in this country, and onto the “glorious light!” One just can't wait for the national championship in December!