As schools battled for spots in the semi-finals of this year’s LUV FM High School Debate, St Monica’s SHS came in strong, arguing for the motion, “Military Rule is More Relevant to Our Political Circumstances than Multi-party Democracy.” Saint Monica’s argument in favour suggested intolerance has become the order of the day in the current democratic dispensation. “Our leaders who are power-hungry do not think about our wellbeing.  Elections under democratic government are marked by violence and bloodshed, intolerance is the order of the day.” The Principal speaker quizzed, “Is this the democracy we are standing for? In our current political circumstances, we need a military rule to unite us”. KNUST SHS speakers forcefully made the point Ghana’s development woes, despite her economic potential could be blamed on the string of military take-overs. “Ghana has at least experienced five successful coups, are they not the reasons our development have slowed down over the years? Military Rule supersedes the worst form of corrupt governance, this is because military rulers are simply walking contradictions of themselves. They overthrow democratically elected governments on the basis that they are corrupt but only to turn round and perpetrate the worst form of corruption”. At the end of the encounter, St. Monica’s garnered 226 points and KNUST SHS’s 219. In the second duel between two ‘Saint’, Louis and Jerome, still on the subject of governance, this time continental politics, was, “Africa Cannot Develop without a Continental Government.” Saint Louis believes African countries rather need bilateral and multilateral trade, and not a unitary government to succeed, citing China as an example. “If Africa is united under a single central government, who will be considered a foreigner in any country on the continent, who will attack the other for working in another country as happened in South Africa? Would there be any litigations between any countries on the continent like what happened between Ghana and Ivory Coast?” they quizzed. On the contrary, Saint Jerome asserted a common African government would have averted xenophobia and all the conflicts that have afflicted the continent. “The African states do not need a continental government but rather they need to develop multilateral and bilateral trade. You must note that China as a single country has developed on its own, and is standing on its feet, investing in various sectors in Africa and Asia.  This means that Africa can be on the path to development without a continental government. ” Six points separated the two schools, with St Jerome picking the bigger chunk of 210 while St Louis SHS settled for 204. The other two quarter-finals contest will take place on Friday, with Yaa Asantewaa Girls meeting Opoku Ware School, while Tepa SHS square up with defending champions, T.I. Ahmadiyya.