Guest School Wins Margibi Regional Debate Championship
By Cedrick Quoi Jones, Contributing writer
The United Dawah Ummah High School has been crowned as the Winner of the Seventh Edition of the Margibi Regional Debate Championship.
The Montserrado-based school was one of two guest schools invited to participate in the Seventh Edition of the championships organized by Voices Liberia, a local civil society organization.
Voices Liberia aims to build public speakers, harness their hidden talents, and help young students evacuate their fears of public speaking.
United Dawah Ummah is the National Debate Champions of Liberia and once again added to their list of championships when they defeated the 2022 champions of Margibi Regional Debate Champions, St. Pius X Catholic High School in the finals on Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Unification City, Margibi County.
They opposed the motion, “This House Will Require the Liberian Senate Not to Pass the War and Economic Crimes Court into Law.”
After both teams vehemently deliberated on the motion, all but two of the panel of 11 judges voted United Dawah Ummah as the winner.
Voices Liberia Chief Executive Officer, Enoch Godson Brooks, congratulated both schools and praised the passion and dedication they continue to show for debate and public speaking.
He said, “We will always be here annually for the sake of these students. They have the talents and need a platform to showcase them, so Voices Liberia will do all it can to help them reach their full potential and help evacuate their fears of public speaking.” He also congratulated participating schools and promised innovations for the eighth edition of the Championship.
The head coach of the United Dawah Ummah High School, Emmanuel Sagacious Cooper, attributed their success to hard work and extra research.
Cooper said, “We are not easily satisfied and complacent. For others, maybe one or two championships will make them think that they have arrived, but we go the extra mile doing additional research. We also do not think that we are better than our opponents. With such a mindset, we can continue to win more accolades.”
He says after this latest triumph, the team will shift their focus to other upcoming debate championships before setting out to defend their title.
United Dawah Ummah High School is the champion of the United States Embassy “Civic Engagement Through Peer Debate for Peaceful Elections and the winner of a one-day International Volunteer Day debate competition organized in December.
This year’s edition of the Margibi Regional Debate Championship MRDC brought together 28 high schools from Electoral Districts #1 and #2 with guest schools being invited for the first time.
This year’s championship was held under the theme, “Say it, Using the Extraordinary Power of Words”, and was organized in partnership with NAYMOTE-Liberia, a non-governmental organization that promotes democracy and the rule of law in Liberia.