Uongozi show premieres on NTV tonight

After many months of hard work, planning and a national campaign, 16 candidates have been selected to feature on Uongozi television show that premieres on NTV on Saturday night at 8pm.

Uongozi is civic initiative by Inuka Kenya, Nation Media Group and Mandala Television. It seeks to inspire and empower Kenyans to engage in elections positively.

“It is a brilliant and patriotic initiative meant to have Kenyans behaving and acting as one people in their political, economic and social endeavours,” said Nation Media Group Chief Executive Linus Gitahi.

He called on Kenyans to watch the show and have “a frank conversations with and among themselves”.

“It is a journey to a just society. A journey to a future and a now where merit triumphs over deep pockets, ethnicity and parochial interests. A journey to meaningful and principled say in determining who represents you in Senate, Parliament, County Assembly and the Village Council.”

The campaign embraces the notion of Ni Sisi! (It is Us! ) and up to us, the Kenyan people, to address the nation’s problems, and spread the message that elections provide wananchi with the opportunity to do so by carefully considering candidates standing for office, and voting competent leaders.

Mr John Githongo, who heads Inuka Trust, said having the candidates meet and share ideas is as important as the prize for the eventual winner of the TV contest.

“There is a great deal of excitement. I think partly because many young people are not used to applying for a “leadership” position,” he said.

The Uongozi campaign kicked off with a four week nation-wide search for 48 outstanding leaders, one from every county and one from the Kenyan community abroad to participate in the prime-time reality TV show.

The show will present the participants with challenges to demonstrate their leadership potential. The candidates were evaluated by a panel of judges.