The University of Ghana (UG) has emerged champions of the Shifting the Power Ghana Inter-University Debate Championship, held at the British Council in Accra.
The two-day tournament ended on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, and formed part of the wider Shifting the Power programme, a national civic education initiative supported by Comic Relief, the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) and the STAR-Ghana Foundation, with facilitation by Speech Forces.
With the victory, Team UG will represent Ghana at the continental stage of the competition.
The preliminary rounds, held on March 2, 2026, at the University of Ghana, narrowed the contest to a final debate between UG and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
In the final round, the UG team — Akua Afriyie Ofori Atta, Eugenia Atta-Sonno, Woelorm Agbedanu and Mohammed Andani — impressed judges with strong arguments, policy analysis and confident delivery to secure the championship.
Speaking in an interview with Univers News after the competition, Woelorm Agbedanu described the experience as both exciting and demanding.
“This debate experience has been a fun one, but it has also been very intense. There was a lot we had to do as a team in preparation for all our rounds. It has been very difficult and, to an extent, we thought we might not even make it here. But the Lord has brought us this far, and I’m really happy to be here,” he said.
Agbedanu also encouraged young people to take advantage of opportunities that allow them to contribute to national discussions.
“My call to action to the youth is to actively take up these opportunities — opportunities that students shy away from — opportunities to air their voices. They should actively be involved in national issues and national discussions. Students often isolate themselves, but they should actively choose Ghana all the time,” he added.
In her remarks at the event, the Executive Director of the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), Nana Afadzinu, urged young people to believe in the ability of African institutions and communities to develop solutions to their own challenges.
“Ghana’s strength does not lie in solutions imported from elsewhere. It’s not about getting solutions that are foisted on us. We already have these solutions within us — in our people, in our local institutions, in our civic actors, and in our youth,” she said.
She added that what is needed is the courage to challenge traditional development models and design solutions that reflect local realities.
The debate competition brought together students from four universities — Ashesi University, KNUST, the University of Ghana and the University for Development Studies (UDS) — to discuss issues related to governance, accountability and national development.
Participants debated topics such as local leadership, inclusive governance and the future of Ghana’s public institutions.
Later in March 2026, Accra will host the Pan-African Grand Final, where the University of Ghana will compete against top university teams from Malawi and Zambia. The event is expected to highlight the role of African youth in shaping governance and development across the continent.
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