By Precious Wangu

USIU-Africa’s Public Speaking Club is known for its vibrancy, tenacity and success. In 2019, the Club participated in over a dozen debate and public speaking tournaments locally and internationally. These events have kept the University on the global map and exposed the Club to the realm of international debate and public speaking.

In keeping with its progression into the global limelight, the Public Speaking Club rebranded to the USIU-Africa Spoken Arts & Debate Society (SADS), in order to represent the new direction being taken by the Club. This means that members will be free to express themselves more fully, not only in debates and public speaking, but also in spoken word, poetry, and readings.

The rebranding of the Club has been a tremendous, creative, and exciting journey for the outgoing and the incoming committee members who worked alongside the Club’s patron, Dr. Quin Awuor.

Speaking following the rebrand, incoming SADS’ incoming Chairperson, Ms. Chantelle Mukabi, noted that the decision to rebrand was prompted by members who were looking for alternative ways of expression that played to their strengths.

“We wanted to expand our product portfolio to encompass all forms of speech: public speaking, debate, spoken word, poetry & readings. This was a strategy to open up to other members who were keen on exploring other categories of speech beyond public speaking and debate. The gap became noticeable through events like Freshman Bashes, Library Readings and discussions the club hosted during Library Week last semester. This prompted the change in name, as Public Speaking Club did not speak to the Club’s evolution,” she said.

The rebrand also saw the election of new club officials, who include:

I.Chantelle Mukabi - Chairperson

II. Kagia Samuel - Vice Chairperson

III. Stecy Onyango - Public Relations Officer

IV. Bienvenu Faraja - Inter-Club Coordinator

V. Shalom Kimani - Treasurer

VI. Jeremiah Kashaka - Logistics Officer

VII. Precious Wangu - Executive Secretary

The Society’s next major goal is to initiate new projects under Spoken Word, Poetry and Readings, in addition to revamping its Public Speaking and Debate offering, in terms of planning, session structure, activities, training and a stronger interaction with the international debate community.

The Society’s incoming Vice Chairperson, Mr. Samuel Kagia applauded the team for continuing to discharge its duties despite the COVID-19 pandemic and its related challenges.

“The team took over the Society’s leadership at the beginning of the COVID-19 shutdowns, which was a test of our leadership skills. Not only did the new committee manage to effectively transition all Society activities online, but we also worked tirelessly to improve the quality of our existing projects while simultaneously introducing and growing our new projects in line with the rebrand,” he said.

The Society’s new projects will be led by:

1. Debate: Chantelle Mukabi & Kagia Samuel
2. Public Speaking: Stecy Onyango & Shalom Kimani
3. Spoken Word, Poetry & Readings: Precious Wangu & Jeremiah Kashaka
4. Marketing & Design: Bienvenu Faraja

The Society hopes to nurture and uplift all its members to push past their limits and constantly accept challenges in pursuit of continuous improvement. With this, the Society’s spirit is kept alive as the members live up to our new slogan: “Speak to Empower.”