Covered in Gold

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The Ambassadors of the school, Strathmore Debate Society members, flew our flag high in the recently completed Ubuntu Opens. The tournament, which was hosted by Kenyatta University, had high stakes involved being the inaugural tournament hosted by the institution. The urge to be the first ever Ubuntu Opens champions saw teams from across various Universities attend the tournament. Debate Societies from United States International University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Technical University of Kenya and Kenyatta University were in attendance. All teams brought their A-game and the race for debating glory began.

The Ubuntu tournament had two categories, the Novice category and the Open category. The Novice category is set aside for those that are not battle-tested; most participants in this category have done less than 3 tournaments in their entire career. However, this does not water down the competition. The Open category is set aside for the crème de la crème of the debate circuit, thus making it a fierce arena. The Strathmore Debate Society had 10 teams of two. With the army set to begin battle, all eyes were focused on getting the trophies back home.t

The competition had 4 preliminary rounds, semi finals and the finals. After 2 rounds, we were topping the charts in both the Novice and Open categories. The third round was a blind round, meaning the results of the round would not be released until all preliminary rounds are completed. This round affects the overall rankings and helps determine who goes to the semifinals. The fourth round was full of intrigues, with novices Trudeau Okech and Lucy Njau topping the chart and sealing their spot in the semifinals. The dynamic duo had synergy from the start, and it is this collegiality that helped them best even experienced speakers.

When the semifinals rolled in, Strathmore Debate Society had a field day. With 4 out of 8 teams in both the novice and open semifinals, we had a 50% chance of proceeding to the finals. In the finals, we had 2 teams in the Novice finals and 3 teams in the Open Finals, giving us a 50 % and 75% chance at victory. Seeing that the feel of the finals was an all-Strathmore affair, it was only a matter of time before we knew who the titans of Ubuntu Opens were. The Finals turned into a Strathmore affair.

In the end Strathmore bagged the following accolades:

Open Champions :

  1. Akoto Olubayi
  2. Kiragu Kimani

Novice Champions:

  1. Martin Javan
  2. Ivy Musundi

Best Novice Speakers:

  1. Trudeau Okech
  2. Moses Tibayeita

Best Speakers:

  1. Shamiah Muchesia
  2. Abigal Wairimu
  3. Ali Abdilatif
  4. Becky Alec

Novice First Runners up:

  1. Vivian Gikonyo
  2. Jaden Koome

Opens runners up:

  1. Trudeau Okech
  2. Lucy Njau

We applaud them for their success and hope that there is more to come. They have shown that discipline, diligence and determination could yield great success. Congratulations once again to the members of the Strathmore Debate Society.

 

This article was written by Ted Iha, a Bachelor of Arts in Communication student. 

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