University of the Free State Winner of the Inaugural Pan-African Universities Debate Championship

The University of the Free State from South Africa emerged as the winner of the Inaugural Pan-African Universities Debate Championship, which was held in Gaborone, Botswana. Participants in the finals were:

• University of the Free State-B-Opening Government
• National University of Lesotho-A-Closing Government
• University of Namibia-C-Opening Opposition
• University of Namibia-A- Opening Opposition

The Best Adjudicator Trophy was awarded to Carl Persat of Namibia. The Best Speaker for the tournament was Ruth Mulenga of Botswana.

Participating countries were Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia. The tournament also included International Debate Education Association (IDEA) debate trainers from the U.S., South Korea, South Africa, and Botswana, who trained the many novice debaters from across the African continent.

This week-long tournament was hosted at the University of Botswana main campus with the award ceremony at Phakalane Golf Estates.

The African Universities Debating Board was established at this ground-breaking event. The board will facilitate the dissemination of training materials, coordinate Pan-African debating events, organize training sessions, and help spread debate across the African continent.

The Chief Adjudicator for the tournament was Logan of Malaysia, and the tournament was convened by Justice Motlhabani of Botswana.

For more information, visit www.botsdebating.com.

The tournament and travel was jointly sponsored by the Open Society Institute Africa Regional Office and the Youth Initiative Debate Program.