A final year student of the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) Zoe Lois Poku has been adjudged the Best Public Speaker amongst all university students in the world.
In 2019, Zoe made a debut to the Ghana Universities Debate Championship in Koforidua, with over seven universities representing.
Her run was not impressive as it ended at the semi finals. It was quite derailing as she had been used to have a one time excellence streak.
In December that year, she reperenseted her University at the Pan African Universities Debate Championship that was held in KNUST with well over 15 countries and an impressive number of universities participating.
There, she bagged her first ever public speaking medal which made her the 3rd Best Public Speaker on the continent. However, to her, she missed the ultimate trophy once again which was her target.
Zoe stayed out of public speaking for about one and a half years –2020 and first half of 2021.
In July 2021, she participated yet again in a Universities Debate Championship, this time around on the World stage in Korea. With well over fifty countries representing, she made it to the finals. With what was quite a close call she emerged second in the World.
In December 2021, Zoe showed up the second time at the Pan African Universities Debate Championship hosted in Botswana.
This time much fierce and experienced than her first appearance. After what was a rigorous tournament, she won making her the reigning Public Speaking Champion in the whole of Africa.
The most recent conglomerate of universities in the World happened in Serbia, Belgrade where the World Universities Debate Championship took place. Zoe showed up, her second appearance.
With participating students from Yale, London School of Economics, University of Asia and the Pacific and the University of Bucharest among others, Zoe was named the World Best Public Speaker on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, making her hold two titles in less than a year.
The feat is the third Ghana has attained in the Public Speaking competition globally.
In January 2019, Jeremiah Sekyi from the University of Ghana won the World’s Public Speaking Championship at WUDC held in Cape Town, South Africa whilst Kwaku Apreku Agyapong also from University of Ghana brought the trophy home for the same competition from Assumption University in Thailand in January 2020.
Meanwhile, KNUST is seeking to make open finals in the main debate competition and hopefully win it to become the first university on the continent to do so after being one of the fewest institutions to have gotten to the semi finals of the tourney as far as Africa is concerned.
KNUST’s Erasmus Segbefia, the back to back African Champion reached the 2022 WUDC semi-finals with Andrews Terku Terkpertey, also from KNUST and a back to back finalist at the Pan African edition.
The next edition will be happening in Madrid from December 27, 2022 to January 4, 2023.
Source: Onuaonline.com|Ghana
