Weeks 1–6 · Nairobi
Foundations
Constitutional law, Chapter Six, public finance and comparative anti-corruption frameworks. Weekly seminars with retired judges and constitutional scholars, plus cohort case work on live Kenyan governance failures.
Program
Three months.We reach them before the seat does.
Three months. Ten fellows. One cohort, taken from Nairobi to Singapore and back — on one of two tracks.
Structure
Three phases, three places.
01 Nairobi
·02 Singapore
·03 Kenya
Weeks 7–8 · Singapore
Governance immersion
The full cohort travels to Singapore for a two-week residency: study visits to public agencies, a public-service training institution and anti-corruption bodies, executive clinics on procurement integrity and digital government, and structured dialogue with practitioners who built a system that resists capture.
Weeks 9–12 · Placement
Placement & capstone
Fellows move into an embedded placement matched to their capstone — either with a multilateral or international governance institution, or with a Kenyan oversight body or newsroom. Each fellow then delivers a reform capstone adapting one practice they studied to a named Kenyan institution, published under the fellowship's imprint.
Two tracks
Fully funded, or sponsored.
Every fellow sits in the same cohort and does the same work. What differs is who pays for the seat.
Track A · Merit scholarship
Zero cost
Fully funded by the fellowship and its donors: tuition, flights, visas, Singapore accommodation and a KES 100,000 monthly stipend. Awarded on merit and need through the open application.
Track B · Self- or institution-sponsored
USD 12,000
indicative full-programme fee per fellow
For candidates funded by an employer, county government, agency or development partner that pays the fellowship directly. Covers tuition, curriculum, the Singapore residency and placement support; flights and visas are billed at cost. Same selection standard — sponsorship does not buy a place.
partnerships@uongozifellowship.comOne standard · One shortlist · Sponsorship does not buy a place
Eligibility
Who can apply.
Every applicant meets the baseline. Each track adds to it.
Both tracks
- A stated intention to seek elected office in Kenya.
- Kenyan citizen, aged 22–35 at the start of the cohort.
- A completed undergraduate degree, or an equivalent record of professional achievement.
- At least two years of work in the public sector, civil society, journalism, law or a public-facing private role.
- Demonstrated action on a public problem — not just interest in one.
- Clean integrity record: no active adverse findings under Chapter Six, and willingness to undergo a background check.
- Available full-time for the entire three months, including the two-week Singapore residency.
- Valid Kenyan passport (or application in progress) and eligibility to travel to Singapore.
- Working proficiency in English and Kiswahili.
Track A · Merit scholarship
- Open application only — no nomination, no referral, no fee.
- Demonstrated financial need: no employer or institution able to fund the place.
- Two referees, at least one who has seen your work on a public problem first-hand.
- Priority to applicants from under-represented counties and to those who have carried personal cost for acting with integrity.
- Commitment to remain in Kenyan public-interest work for at least two years after the cohort.
Track B · Sponsored
- A written sponsorship letter from the employer, county, agency or development partner, naming the candidate and confirming the fee.
- The sponsor pays the fellowship directly. We do not accept payment from individuals routed through third parties, nor anonymous funds.
- Sponsor and candidate both pass an integrity and source-of-funds check; we decline sponsors with active corruption proceedings.
- Written release for the fellow's full-time absence, including travel, for the whole three months.
- A named institutional problem the fellow will work on in the placement phase.
- No conditions on curriculum, capstone findings or publication — editorial independence is non-negotiable.
Selection
How we choose.
One standard, one shortlist, both tracks. Sponsorship affects who pays — never who is admitted.
40%
Integrity under pressure
Evidence you held a line when it cost you something — a refusal, a disclosure, a resignation, a report filed.
25%
Public impact to date
A concrete problem you acted on, and what measurably changed as a result.
20%
Reform potential
The institution you can influence next, and how plausibly a Singapore practice adapts to it.
15%
Judgement and rigour
Quality of reasoning in the essays and interview: clarity, honesty about trade-offs, no slogans.
Process
- 01Written application with three essays and referee details.
- 02Longlist review by two independent readers, names redacted.
- 03Panel interview, plus a sponsor conversation for Track B.
- 04Reference and integrity checks, then offers to ten fellows.
By the numbers
At a glance.
Cohort size
10
one cohort, travelling together
Singapore residency
2 weeks
flights, visas and stay covered
Stipend
KES 100k
per month, scholarship track
Tracks
2
fully funded or sponsored