Mutolere Nursing School Wins ACFODE Inter Institution Debate Competitions

Amulen Winfred has a reason to boast. She and her teammate Bosco Niyizi both from Mutolere Nursing School came out on top during ACFODE’s Inter-institution debate competitions that were held at Acacia Hotel in Mbarara.

The competition, which started on Saturday the 24th of March 2012, began with 20 teams from five institutions of higher learning across Western Uganda. During the tournament, contestants were slowly whittled down through a long series of debates, culminating in Sunday’s final where Bishop Stuart University came in second after Mutolere Nursing School - which won the tournament.


‘This has been a once in a life time opportunity and I applaud ACFODE for it,’’ said Naturinda Evelyn, the winner of the Best Female Speaker Award.

In each debate, there was only one resolution at play, and the weekend’s topics ranged from ‘the woman seat in parliament should be abolished,’ to ‘this house believes that the woman is the best man for the job.’

Competitors learnt about their resolutions only 15 minutes before the debate rounds. Each team would then start with a seven-minute overview of their argument for, or against a certain proposition. The winning team from Mutorere Nursing School for instance successfully argued against a mock resolution that ‘this house should abolish quotas for women in parliament.’

Kenneth Opolot – the Senior Adjudicator and a former debate champion from CRY Uganda noted that: ‘This shows that debates don’t only rely on specialized knowledge, but are also an exercise that fosters logical thinking and persuasive speaking.”

Participating institutions included; Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Bishop Stuart University, Mutorere Nursing School from Kisoro, Kabale University, and Kabale National Teachers’ College.

At the end of the tournament, all participants were awarded with Certificates of Participation. Michael Kabushenga - winner of the Best Male Speaker Award had this to say about the debates: ‘I am glad that although ACFODE is a women focused civil society organization, it also considers bringing young men like me on board. I therefore pledge to fight for women’s rights because now I have a clear understanding about them. And because of this, I am going to work towards improving my attitude in as far as women and girls are concerned.’

Since 2010, ACFODE with generous support from Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) has carried out inter institution debate competitions all over the country as a strategy for deepening and sustaining the gender equality and good governance campaign.

Participants are engaged and mentored into different gender and good governance dynamics as they are challenged to acquire information and to share their findings in a persuasive way (British Parliamentary Debate format). They are also mentored into eloquent, articulate and fast thinking individuals.


Compiled By
Sandra Nassali
Public Relations & Communications Officer
Action For Development
Email: snassali@acfode.org