By Dancan Muhindi

Isuzu East Africa (Isuzu EA) has sponsored one team from the USIU-Africa Spoken Arts & Debate Society (SADS) to pioneer USIU-Africa’s debut in the Pan African Universities Debate Championships (PAUDC) in Gaborone, Botswana this December.

Chantelle Mukabi (SADS Chair, and Junior BSc. Applied Computer Technology student), and Kagia Samuel (SADS Vice Chair, and Senior BSc. Finance student) are the beneficiaries of the sponsorship. Isuzu has invested a total of Kshs 410,000 to support the two to attend PAUDC 2021 to pave way for their further growth as global leaders.

The sponsorship is part of Isuzu EA’s efforts to ensure the success of its business by including social and environmental matters into its company’s operations. As a market leader offering diverse transport solutions and earning customers for life, Isuzu EA is committed to improving the welfare of communities around its operations. The company has invested in various corporate social initiatives in Road safety, Education, Environment and Healthcare.

The SADS team has shown immense growth and continued success on both the regional and international stage, winning titles like Best East African Speakers in PAUDC 2020, African Champions in the Annual African Nations Debate League, World Champions of the Uhuru Worlds Debate Championship.

The Society has also won accolades at the USA Vanderbilt Debate Championship 2021, Global ESL Round Robin 2021, Kingsman Debate Championship 2021, and many other international debates. In addition to these wins, both Chantelle and Kagia have been selected to participate as adjudicators in several competitions, including the Estonia Open Debate Championships, North American Women and Gender Minorities Debate Championships, Groningen (Netherlands) InterVarsity Debate Championships, LinkedKey 2021 (Canada) among others. This has led them to become revered debaters and adjudicators, as well as sought out coaches in the international debate community, and continue to coach and mentor debaters from around the world.

Isuzu aims to empower the future generation by improving access to quality education with opportunities for learning and growth. The company has been working with various partners to achieve this, and USIU-Africa is now one of them.