Bulawayo to host African universities debate preps

LUPANE State University (LSU) and Hillside Teachers College will host preparations for the annual 9th Pan African University Debate Championship (PAUDC) that will be held in Gweru from 9 to 17 December.

The preparations will see all participating African countries coming to Bulawayo to acclimatise from 6 to 9 December before heading for Gweru’s Midlands State University.

Pan African Universities Debate Championship is a platform for international intellectual engagement on topical contemporary issues affecting the African region from the social to the economic spectrum.

“Holding the preparations for the PAUDC in Bulawayo is a way of familiarising Bulawayo citizens with debate engagement and a form of motivating the youths when it comes to social and economic issues, thinking ahead in spite of difficult times. We are also hosting preparations for this tournament in the second capital city of Bulawayo so that outsiders familiarise themselves with Bulawayo a city with a rich political and cultural history,” said PAUD championship convener Miss Lauretta Sithole.

The championship director, Mr Michael Mhlanga, said it was a chance for the country to grow.

“LSU and HTC will be hosting all participants who will be competing in the championships from the 9th to the 17th of December at Midlands State University (MSU). The preparations will serve as a training model that will help team Zimbabwe to be well equipped so as to have the championship at home,” he said.

Mr Mhlanga said preparations were at an advanced stage and Zimbabwe would be camped at Hillside Teachers College and the college was looking forward to this huge opportunity because it would be branding its name since PAUDC was one of the most recognised debate tournaments in all African institutions.

“I am excited about the clash before the final clash as different universities, teachers’ colleges, polytechnics converge on the City of Kings and Queens to sharpen their skills before the real battle lines are drawn in Gweru’s Midlands State University,” said Hillside debate president Mr Machiha Bonlam.

Some of the sponsors for the event are Bulawayo City Council, Sexual Rights Centre (SRC), Leaders of Africa Network (LAN) and Youth-Led Innovative Engagement with Leadership and Development (Yield).