The much awaited Uongozi Leadership Institute’s awards ceremony for the best youth leadership essayist of 2015 was conducted late Friday night at Tanzania’s 5-star Serena Hotel in Dar es Salaam during the African Leadership Forum summit organised by H.E. Benjamin Mkapa, former President of Tanzania, and UONGOZI Institute.
Omollo Juemah and Ainembabazi Madonna Vicky, both 3rd year students of law, were among the top 5 competitors shortlisted by Uongozi Leadership Institute in contention for the overall award that came with it a cool $2,000 cash prize as well as a certificate of participation.
At the end of it all, Uganda’s Vicky emerged in second position after being narrowly pipped to the first position by Zimbabeean Munyaradzi Chifetete. Juemah came in at fourth position.
“Hey Marvin, thanks a lot for the good wishes. They pushed me to second place and earned me a dance with H.E Obasanjo.” said an overjoyed Vicky in a short message to this writer.
The other two competitors were Joseph Wanga from Kenya and Tsholofelo Tsholofelo from Botswana.
Notably in attendance was President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda who delivered a key note address on the need for integration of East Africa.
“When I was a guerilla fighter, I knew that I would hide behind the hill or a tree to escape from the pursuers. Today, I can’t due to the technological advancement. Such space technology is only possible with intergration.” quipped President M7 while delivering his speech.
The competition is organised annually by Uongozi Leadership Institute with a purpose of providing a forum for the youth in East and Southern Africa to contribute to important discussions about leadership.
Uongozi Institute is a leadership training institute that provides transformative leadership training in East and Southern Africa. Its essay competition takes place each year.
Calls for entries are usually advertised on its website, in the media, and other partner organisations’ news portals. A panel is later constituted to select the best entrant basing on his or her originality, creativity, critical thinking, structure , organization, logical flow, and content while addressing the given theme.
The 2015 edition saw nearly 600 youth between the ages of 18 – 25yrs sending in their essays discussing whether leading in Africa is different from leading in the rest of the world.
According to Uongozi, the winners will be contacted later regarding how to claim their prizes.
You must be logged in to post a comment.