The prize will be awarded to the best unpublished manuscript or book published within two years of the award year across the categories of Fiction/Nonfiction/Graphic Novels. The total proposed awards of $15,000 US dollars will be divided as follows:
1st Fiction Prize – $5,000
1st Poetry Prize – $5,000
2nd Prize – $2,500 in any genre
3rd Prize – $2,500 in any genre
The winning prose entry will be published in Kiswahili by either Mkuki na Nyota or East African Educational Publishers (EAEP). And the best poetry book will be translated and published in English by the African Poetry Book Fund.
An award ceremony will be held with the four prize winning writers in attendance. The first and second award ceremonies were held in Kenya and Tanzania respectively. The third award ceremony will also be held in East Africa.