Debate sailing new seas

This past weekend, the University of Namibia (Unam), through its debating society called Udebso, hosted the first-ever Unam Open tournament that saw students from the Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust) and the International University of Management (IUM), as well as high school students, competing for top spots as Namibia''s best local debaters.

The Unam Open, which is said to be the biggest debating tournament in the country right now, and even though the tournament comes in new to join a range of other debating invitational tournaments that are taking place on the continent, the need for the tournament has long been there.

Udebso was founded in mid-October in 1996 and the student organisation turned 20 years old, which was a main reason why the tournament was hosted this weekend.

The event was sponsored by MTN Business, with the winning team in the tournament walking away with N$5 000, the best adjudicator with N$1 000, the best public speaker with N$1 000, the best speaker at the tournament with N$1 000 and the winning high school debate team walking away with N$2 000.

In what was a heated two-day tournament, the winners were announced at the Protea Thuringerhof Hotel in Windhoek''s central business district on Sunday night.



The winners in High School category were:

Winning team: Delta Secondary School

Twapewa Mungoba

Patience Masus (team captain)

Keenen Markgraaf



Runners-up in High School category:

Thelma Mackinza

Kaveire Tujendapi

Bertha Tobias (team captain)



Public speaking is a big part of debating where a speaker gets several minutes to quickly prepare on a topic that the judges might allocate to him or her, on which they have to then speak. It can be quite an exhilarating experience for a lot of debaters and the audience, with the art of public speaking teaching you to think fast on your feet.



Public Speaking in the High School category:



First place: Suzie Shefeni

Second place: Lelan Beukes

Third place: Beatha Tobias



Top 3 Speakers at the tournament, High School category:



First place: Thelma Mackinza

Second place: Bertha Tobias

Third place: Naumanic Feris and Marycent Kashuwa

In the University category, in the same categories are:

Winning Team: Open team

John Haufiku and Cliff Simataa



Public Speaking winner:

Johannes Shangadi

Best Speaker at the tournament:

Samuel Ndungula

Best adjudicator

Sindiso Moyo



The tournament is to be hosted again next year, with possible sponsors being called on board to continue growing debate in Namibia. For further information, you can contact Clinton Muinjo the outgoing president of the Unam debate society on 081 770 6614.



Keith Vries