01
Ethics of public office
Moral philosophy grounded in African constitutional traditions and the Chapter Six mandate.
Uongozi // A leadership fellowship for public integrity
Samaki mkunje angali mbichi.
Bend the fish while it is still fresh
Every leadership programme in Kenya reaches people after they hold office. Uongozi reaches them before — ten young Kenyans a year, three months, Nairobi to Singapore and back. For people who intend to run — county assembly to the presidency.
Applications open
2027 Cohort
- Deadline
- TBC
- Cohort size
- 10 fellows
- Funding
- Two tracks
0
Fellows per cohort
0 mo
Nairobi + Singapore
0
Counties eligible
open to applicants from every county
0
Funding tracks
fully funded or sponsored
Three pillars
Three commitments.
02
Public good over personal interest
Fellows learn to put the public interest first — resisting capture, managing conflicts of interest, and making decisions that serve citizens, not patrons.
03
Civic courage
The interior work of standing firm — mentored by whistleblowers, journalists, and public servants who have.
Program
A three-month cohort fellowship, Nairobi to Singapore
Ten fellows a year move through the program as one cohort: foundations in Nairobi, a two-week governance immersion in Singapore studying how a state built clean institutions, then a placement back home where the lessons are applied. Fully funded on the merit scholarship track, or sponsored by an employer or institution.
Weeks 1–6
Weeks 7–8
Weeks 9–12
Nairobi foundations
Nairobi, Kenya
Six weeks of constitutional law, Chapter Six, public finance and comparative anti-corruption frameworks, taught with retired judges and scholars.
Singapore immersion
Singapore
A two-week residency in Singapore: study visits to public agencies, anti-corruption and civil service institutions, and clinics on building systems that resist capture.
Kenya placement & capstone
Kenya
Fellows move into an embedded placement with a placement host and deliver a reform capstone applying what they studied to a Kenyan problem.
Weeks 1–6
Nairobi foundations
Nairobi, Kenya
Six weeks of constitutional law, Chapter Six, public finance and comparative anti-corruption frameworks, taught with retired judges and scholars.
Weeks 7–8
Singapore immersion
Singapore
A two-week residency in Singapore: study visits to public agencies, anti-corruption and civil service institutions, and clinics on building systems that resist capture.
Weeks 9–12
Kenya placement & capstone
Kenya
Fellows move into an embedded placement with a placement host and deliver a reform capstone applying what they studied to a Kenyan problem.
Nelson Amenya
Founder
Why this exists
Samaki mkunje angali mbichi.
Bend the fish while it is still fresh
“Once it dries, it does not bend. It breaks.”
There is no shortage of programmes for people who already hold office. There is almost nothing for the person who will hold that seat in ten years. By then the arrangements that carried them there — the debts, the patrons, the quiet promises — are already made, and you are not forming character, you are negotiating with it. So Uongozi takes ten Kenyans a year, before the seat.