Legon Floors KNUST

Kwasi Oppong-Kyekyeku

The debate team of the Faculty of Law of the University of Ghana, Legon, on Monday, February 21, 2011, thrashed their counterparts from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in the A.N.E. Amissah Debate competition.

The Legon team got high marks on the score sheets of two out of three judges to reclaim the trophy they won last year during the inaugural edition of the annual debate competition.

The event, which was part of activities marking the eighth anniversary of the Faculty of Law of KNUST, took place at the school's auditorium, and it was on the motion: 'Is retribution, as a theory of punishment, still relevant in the modern criminal system?'  The host team argued for the affirmative whilst the University of Ghana team debated against the relevance of retribution.

The high-powered panel of judges featured two Justices of the High Court in Kumasi, Justice Eric Baah and Justice Iddrisu Muhamadu, with the former President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) and immediate past Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), Paul Adu Gyamfi, completing the lineup of Judges. The Vice Dean of the Faculty of Law, KNUST, Mr. Aswald Seneadzah, chaired the event.

The 'inchoate' lawyers engaged one another in a no-holds-barred fashion, to the admiration of the audience.

The principal speaker for the Legon team, John F. Agudetse, led the onslaught against the 'Kumasi lawyers' as he backed his research with Constitutional, statutory provisions and case law.

When she took the podium, the second speaker for Legon, Janat Appiah Yeboah, dazzled the audience with her immaculate delivery, capturing the attention of the panel.

The KNUST team, represented by Rebecca Amponsah, Akua Serwaa Ampong, Andrew Khartey and Frank Gyetua Buadi, came up with rebuttals that nearly turned the tables. Indeed, they held their own and brought the best out of Araba Nunoo, third speaker for Legon.

However, by the time the fourth speaker of the Legon team, Kwasi Oppong-Kyekyeku had finished making his submissions, there was little doubt as to which team would carry the day. He smashed to smithereens all the gains made by his opponents, and successfully nailed the final coffin.

At the end of hostilities, the Legon team was adjudged winner of the contest.

The A.N.E Amissah debate competition was instituted last year by the Law Students Unions (LSU) of the Faculties of Law at University of Ghana and the KNUST to encourage student attorneys to put into practice their knowledge and advocacy skills in the law.

It is held in honour of the late Austin Neeabeohe Evans Amissah, the first Ghanaian Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, former Director of Public Prosecutions, Attorney General and Justice of the Court of Appeal.

The first edition, hosted last year at Legon, was won by the University of Ghana team featuring Samuel Bartels, George Ofori, Dennis Armah and Elorm Ahiati.

A Daily Guide Report