OPINION| The Place Of Debate In A Democracy

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug, 24 –Let us hold our discussion together in our own persons, making trial of the truth and of ourselves. Protagoras

The Presidential Debate the Kenya Editors’ Guild and the Media Council of Kenya organized attracted immense interest from Kenyans.

It didn’t matter the different political positions and loyalties of the candidates. They articulated themselves on the various policy issues, problems, and challenges that are currently facing Kenya at this point in time.

Thanks to the Editors Guild and the Media Council of Kenya, millions of Kenyans were able to watch and listen as the candidates explained their take on the questions the panelists asked them to tackle.

On a personal level, the debates brought to my mind the first debating situation I had in my primary school in the late ‘70s.

Every Thursday, class six and seven pupils held debating sessions after the official class hours which was then, as now, 3.30 pm. The topic or what was then called motion had been communicated earlier in the week. The topic or motion required some of us to support and others to oppose. We were required to do some research on the topic before the D-day.

Every Thursday evening, therefore, class six and seven pupils trooped to a classroom that was always redesigned. There was one side designed to defend the Motion and another to oppose the motion. Yes; we had a Speaker, a sergeant at Arms, and a Hansard Writer to record the proceedings and award marks for each side to the motion.

Sitting on a Chair hoisted on a Table, the Speaker, chosen every week, looked regal,however young and small-bodied.

We found the debating sessions educational and entertaining. The sessions gave us an opportunity for those brave enough to raise their hands to speak, to express their ideas and feelings about the topics. The topics were rudimentary. We had such topics as A mother is better than a father; a teacher is better than a doctor, and a farmer is better than a shopkeeper, and so on and so forth.

The topics were drawn from our social-cultural environment and experience. And the experience of taking part in the debate was challenging. It gave us a chance to argue and to build up our confidence. The different or opposition viewpoints meant that we were to think hard about the reasons for defending or opposing a viewpoint.

For whatever other reasons schools exist, they primarily exist to nurture the foundations of a child’s education. They exist to develop children’s foundational skills: basic literacy, numeracy, and transferable skills. These are the building blocks for a life of learning. Debate in schools,however elementary,test and stretch problem solving, analytical reasoning, critical thinking, leadership, and communication in learners.

The debate also builds the esteem of learners. The debates were admittedly rudimentary. But they gave us confidence. This was the only time our teachers sat through the session listening to us,unlike normal lessons and during other sessions. One teacher was always present to correct the English and what other “sins against parliamentary democracy” we had inadvertently overlooked.

It was those raw beginnings that are responsible for my fascination with argumentation, discussion, and persuasion.

I don’t know. But somewhere through my eclectic reading interest, I chanced on two of the greatest debates politicians have ever had.

All of them concern politics in the USA. The first was the controversy over the ratification of the USA Constitution. Three Founding Fathers of the USA,John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton,wrote articles in the Newspapers of the time, defending the New Constitution and urging the delegates to ratify it. We had other equally great intellects who opposed the proposed Constitution and wrote articles to and gave speeches in the various legislatures against ratification.

The second great debate is what historians call the Lincoln-Douglas debate. The debate was between the Democratic senator Stephen A. Douglas and Republican challenger Abraham Lincoln during the 1858 Illinois senatorial campaign, largely concerning the issue of slavery extension into the territories.

The other debate of lasting educational value to me and others who have come across it is from William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

The “debate” concerns whether it was right or not to assassinate Caesar. We have Brutus delivering the little-known speech “hear me for my cause” providing justification for the killing of Caesar, whom he argues had become a dictator. Brutus not only participated, but he is the one who stabbed him, killing him instantly.

And we have Mark Anthony’s “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him,” denouncing the killing of Caesar. The debate is in the

Students of Literature know what happens thereafter. Tears and blood.

Suffice it to say that the Presidential Debate that we witnessed was, in many ways, useful to Kenyans. The voters, the ultimate masters of a Country in a democracy, had the opportunity to see their leaders explain themselves to them.

For students and young Kenyans who will inherit the mantle of leadership from the current generation of leaders, it was an eye opener. Leadership of whatever kind needs education, knowledge, skill, and intelligence. Appropriate preparation for it is required. If there is any lesson for young people from the debate, it is that: “You don’t stumble into leadership. You grow into leadership.” And the basic tool of leadership is words. Words and more words.

Basic education institutions ought to reinforce and integrate debating into programmes of the school. A Teacher claimed that the mean score madness has killed Debating Clubs. Schools should not only support Debating Clubs but also ensure every learner in the school, from grade four onwards, participate in the debate.

Basic education institutions are where the next generation of leaders are nurtured. Not in universities and other institutions.

The writer is a Communications Officer at the Ministry of Education.