Parliament marks 2020 Commonwealth Day with a Commemorative Debate among Tertiary Students

The Parliament of Ghana in collaboration with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) on Monday marked this year’s Commonwealth Day with a debate among Students’ Parliament in selected tertiary institutions. The event took place at the National Theatre in Accra.

It was organized under the auspices of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Secretariat and forms part of series of programmes commemorating the 2020 Commonwealth Day Celebration on the theme “Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming”.

Central University College of Ghana (CUCG), an Accra based private tertiary institution emerged winners of the debate which was on the topic “Ghana Beyond Aid: An Attainable Feat or a Political Slogan?”

They amassed a total of 346.5 points to beat off stiff competition from contest favourites University of Ghana, Legon, which placed second with 345.5 points to win the bronze medal and the silver medalists Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) who placed third with 336.5 points.

University of Cape Coast uncharacteristically took a distance fourth position with 292 points while contest debutants Agogo Presbyterian University College and Abetifi Presbyterian University College placed fifth and sixth positions with 284 and 265 points respectively.

In addition to the gold medal, Central University College received a cash prize of GHS 800 while University of Ghana and KNUST received cash prizes of 600 and 500 respectively.

The Director of Public Affairs of Parliament, Madam Kate Addo, in her welcome address disclosed that the six participating institutions reached the finals of the contest after emerging victorious through a series of preliminary qualifying rounds among twenty established and emerging tertiary institutions nationwide.

She however expressed disappointment over the non-participation of member Students’ Parliament institutions that failed to qualify for the final contest in the day’s event and programme of activities.

The Director of Research of Parliament Mohammed Nyagsi, Ebenezer A. Djietror, a Principal Assistant Clerk at the Table Office and the Deputy Director of Finance William Kafui Asem, took turns to educate the young student parliamentarians on parliamentary rules, practices, behaviours and procedures.

Dr. Ekwow Appiah, the Director of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy assisted the Deputy Finance Director to present the gold medal to the winners – Central University College of Ghana.

The Guest of Honour Hon. Joseph Osei Owusu, who is the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament and the Member of Parliament for the Bekwai Constituency in the Ashanti Region, read the Queen’s Throne Speech, the Commonwealth Day Message to the young parliamentarians at exactly twelve noon.

He admonished the students to ensure that integrity precedes whatever they do in life and to strive to be loyal to the nation now and in the near future when they are placed in positions to serve the country.

The Bekwai MP further sounded a caution to the young parliamentarians that they were allowed to be political in their discussions but not partisan since the Youth Parliament was not an elected one and that they did not represent anybody for they have voluntarily offered to participate in the process.

Hon. Osei Owusu concluded that the students could be political by looking at things from different sides but that they were just students who desired to debate national issues or offer solutions from the point of view of students.

He urged all Ghanaians to have a responsibility to protect the country’s parliamentary democracy since, as he put it, we all owe posterity to discharge this national duty faithfully an

Source: Selorm Kofi Adzivor || ghananewsonline.com.gh