Tertiary students mark Easter holidays with debate contest

Over hundred and fifty students from various Tertiary institutions in Ghana gathered in Accra for the 2023 edition of the Easter Debate Cup.

The two-day competition which took place from Thursday, April 6 to Friday, April 7 was held at the Presbyterian Boys Senior High School, Legon, with the grand finale taking place at the University of Ghana SRC Union Building.

At the end of the competition which involved five competitive preliminary rounds, two knockout rounds and a grand finale, the team of Elisha Owusu Akyaw and Andrews Terku from the University of Ghana and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology respectively, were adjudged the overall winners.

They successfully opposed the legalisation of cryonics in the context of a pandemic in the finals. Catherine Essel Otabil and Nana Kofi Osei from the University of Ghana also won the novice category by opposing America’s proposed ban on TikTok in the novice finals. 

The Best Speaker award went to Abdul Karim Ibrahim from UG, Legon. Other awardees included the Best Novice Speaker; Ann Donya from UG, the Overall Best Judge Erasmus Elorm Agbo from UG and the Best Novice Judge; Kakra Sarfo Amponsah, UG-BS.

The Easter Debate Cup known by its patrons as ‘ELSJ’ is an initiative of Speech Forces, a non-profit organization about developing critical thinkers and public speakers who can impact their societies positively.

The 2023 edition just like the previous five editions followed the British Parliamentary style of debate.

Participation has increased from 16 speakers at the inaugural edition in 2017 to 96 speakers in this year’s edition.

The institutions that took part in the contest were Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, University of Ghana, Accra Technical University, Takoradi Technical University, University of Cape Coast, Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training & Entrepreneurial Development and University of Energy & Natural Resources.

Michael Ampah, a researcher at KNUST, Jessica Afi Fayose from KNUST and Safo Kwabena Esq. made up the core Adjudication Panel with Master Mensah Fiifi Kobea serving as the competition’s Tabulation Director.

In their closing remarks, Ella Gyimah and Pearl Kwadade, the co-conveners expressed satisfaction with this year’s event and reiterated the importance of providing such safe spaces for young people to develop invaluable skills for the future.

They urged Ghanaians to support platforms like the Easter’s Cup to help foster a debating culture.

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