Obama Mania in Kenya

[Onyango Oloo]

Senator's Kenya Visit Inspires Obama-Mania

By Edmund Sanders, Times Staff Writer

August 22, 2006


NYANGOMA-KOGELO, Kenya — For years farmers here complained about the broken dirt road through their village, so bumpy that taxi and bus drivers refused to take it. Then, two weeks ago, the government suddenly sent a tractor to smooth the way, conspicuously stopping at the doorstep of one family.

"They're not fooling anyone," said Said Hussein Obama, whose home lies at the end of the newly improved road. "It's only because he's coming. You watch, next week we'll have electricity!"


You can't fault Kenyan officials for wanting to spruce up a little before the eagerly anticipated visit late this week of Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, a rising star in the Democratic Party whose late father hailed from this tiny farming town.

Obama-mania is sweeping the nation, particularly the long-marginalized west, which is preparing a hero's homecoming for the half-Kansan, half-Kenyan senator, who began a 15-day, five-nation African tour over the weekend.

Construction workers are racing to complete the new science lab at the recently rededicated Senator Obama Secondary School. A play based on his best-selling autobiography recently took the stage at Kenya's National Theater. Sales of long-popular Senator beer, which locals dubbed "Obama" after his election, have doubled since June, brewery officials said.

Obama's parents met and married in Hawaii, where he was born. When he was a toddler, his parents separated, and he only saw his father once afterward. The senator hasn't visited Kenya in 14 years. His support for abortion and gay rights would roil most voters here. But none of that matters to locals, who see Obama, 45, as their new favorite son.

"He's a role model for all of Africa," said Kenyan playwright George Orido, who adapted Obama's "Dreams From My Father" for the stage. When the publisher refused to authorize the production, Orido proceeded anyway.

"His story is our story now," the writer explained. "It's moved beyond him. He proves that Africans have the brains to lead. They don't always have to be dictators or despots."

High expectations are symptomatic of the underdevelopment plaguing so much of Africa. This part of western Kenya remains one of the most impoverished regions in the country. Obama's family homestead, near the western city of Kisumu, has never received water, paved roads or electricity.

Obama is also facing strong cultural and tribal traditions that demand family and clan members, even distant ones or those returning after a long absence, should share their success with the less fortunate. Villagers and family members here see Obama as a rich, powerful American, speaking about him with pride and admiration, but also a hint of disappointment that he hasn't done more to help them.

"It's tradition that when your man is on top, he is supposed to help," said Said Obama, the senator's uncle, a laid-off brewery mechanic.

Barack Obama visited Kenya twice, in 1987 and 1992, first while he was in school and then while he was working as a community organizer in Chicago. His political career soared after a rousing speech during the 2004 Democratic National Convention, which began speculation that he'd one day run for president.

In an interview before he departed, the senator said he hoped his trip would shine a spotlight on Africa's struggles, from the bloodshed in Sudan's Darfur region to the promise of recent elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo. On Monday, he toured an AIDS treatment facility in Cape Town, where he criticized the South African government's response to the disease.

In Kenya, Obama said, he planned to use his personal connection to the country to challenge leaders about good governance and fighting corruption, with an emphasis on African self-reliance.

"I may be able to talk to Africans in a way that other American politicians are not able to talk, and to challenge them," he said. "Aid packages alone don't deliver the goods for people on the ground. The key to Kenya's success is going to come from folks on the inside, not the outside."

But back at his family homestead, people are asking not what they can do for Africa, but what Obama can do for them.

There's no shortage of ideas. A new tarmac road would be nice, one resident said. Others spoke of the shoddy health dispensary, which lacks bandages and drugs. A councilman wondered whether Obama could divert World Bank funds to the village. A student suggested an educational exchange program, similar to the one that allowed Obama's father to leave the village in the late 1950s.

At the high school named in the senator's honor, the empty science laboratory is intended as a not-so-subtle hint.

"When he sees that it is empty, maybe he will fill it," said a smiling Mairsat Onyango, the school secretary.

Some in the town scoffed at the hype associated with Obama's visit. "It borders on hero worship," said Francis Oketch, a land surveyor.

But inside the school, the story of Obama and his father serve as a lesson about the merits of hard work. "If he can do it, so can I," said Stephen Momodi, 17, a freshman. "I just need to study more."

Asked what he might say to the famous man when he visits, the teenager responded: "I'd ask him to pay for my school fees."

Obama said high expectations were not surprising given the stark economic differences between Kenya and the United States.

"I'm going to try to tamp them down when I'm there," he said. "But my suspicion is that there are going to be some disappointments if people think I'm coming with a suitcase full of help."

He has made a personal $14,000 donation to an AIDS orphan care facility in Kenya, but he said he did not plan to announce any additional contributions during the trip.

With about 50 acres of farmland, Obama's family here shares a collection of small tin-roofed shacks with cement floors, making them better off than neighbors who live in straw-roofed mud huts. A new water pump means the Obamas don't have to rely on daily deliveries from a donkey cart, but they still can't afford a generator.

Obama's grandmother, Sarah Ogwel Onyango, 85, grows and sells vegetables at the local market. "Working keeps me strong," she said.

"We will be so happy to see him," Onyango said, adding that she was particularly looking forward to spending time with Obama's two young daughters. The last time she spoke with the senator was at his 2005 inauguration. "I got to meet President Bush," she said.

Since then, the family has seen a regular stream of distant relatives, journalists and strangers, many seeking money, food or help in obtaining U.S. visas.

"People assume that we're better off financially now, even though we still have nothing," Said Obama said.

Relatives say Obama has played host to visits to the U.S. by a handful of family members since his election, but hasn't sent back money, as other relatives do. Onyango, who said she dreams of owning a small rental property to support her in retirement, predicted that would change once he visits.

"Barack is mature and observant," she said. "He will see for himself what is lacking here, and then, if he can, he will help."

[adongo12345]

This is his speech at the DP Convention. It was stunning listening to him deliver it. Reading it two years later might be another matter altogether. But you can try.

The Audacity Of Hope
Barack Obama's Speech

On behalf of the great state of Illinois, crossroads of a nation, land of Lincoln, let me express my deepest gratitude for the privilege of addressing this convention.

Tonight is a particular honor for me because, let’s face it, my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely. My father was a foreign student, born and raised in a small village in Kenya. He grew up herding goats, went to school in a tin-roof shack. His father, my grandfather, was a cook, a domestic servant to the British. But my grandfather had larger dreams for his son.
Through hard work and perseverance my father got a scholarship to study in a magical place; America, that shown as a beacon of freedom and opportunity to so many who had come before.

While studying here, my father met my mother. She was born in a town on the other side of the world, in Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs and farms through most of the Depression. The day after Pearl Harbor my grandfather signed up for duty, joined Patton’s army and marched across Europe.

Back home, my grandmother raised their baby and went to work on a bomber assembly line. After the war, they studied on the GI Bill, bought a house through FHA, and later moved west all the way to Hawaii in search of opportunity. And they, too, had big dreams for their daughter, a common dream, born of two continents.

My parents shared not only an improbable love; they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. They would give me an African name, Barack, or “blessed,” believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success. They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren’t rich, because in a generous America you don’t have to be rich to achieve your potential. They are both passed away now. Yet, I know that, on this night, they look down on me with pride. I stand here today, grateful for the diversity of my heritage, aware that my parents’ dreams live on in my two precious daughters. I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that, in no other country on earth, is my story even possible.

Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation, not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy. Our pride is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” That is the true genius of America, a faith in a simple dream, an insistence on small miracles. That we can tuck in our children at night and know they are fed and clothed and safe from harm. That we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door. That we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe or hiring somebody’s son. That we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution, and that our votes will be counted—or at least, most of the time.
This year, in this election, we are called to reaffirm our values and commitments, to hold them against a hard reality and see how we are measuring up, to the legacy of our forbearers, and the promise of future generations.

And fellow Americans—Democrats, Republicans, Independents—I say to you tonight: we have more work to do. More to do for the workers I met in Galesburg, Illinois, who are losing their union jobs at the Maytag plant that’s moving to Mexico, and now are having to compete with their own children for jobs that pay seven bucks an hour. More to do for the father I met who was losing his job and choking back tears, wondering how he would pay $4,500 a month for the drugs his son needs without the health benefits he counted on. More to do for the young woman in East St. Louis, and thousands more like her, who has the grades, has the drive, has the will, but doesn’t have the money to go to college. Don’t get me wrong.

The people I meet in small towns and big cities, in diners and office parks, they don’t expect government to solve all their problems. They know they have to work hard to get ahead and they want to. Go into the collar counties around Chicago, and people will tell you they don’t want their tax money wasted by a welfare agency or the Pentagon. Go into any inner city neighborhood, and folks will tell you that government alone can’t teach kids to learn. They know that parents have to parent, that children can’t achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white.

No, people don’t expect government to solve all their problems. But they sense, deep in their bones, that with just a change in priorities, we can make sure that every child in America has a decent shot at life, and that the doors of opportunity remain open to all. They know we can do better. And they want that choice. In this election, we offer that choice.

Our party has chosen a man to lead us who embodies the best this country has to offer. That man is John Kerry. John Kerry understands the ideals of community, faith, and sacrifice, because they’ve defined his life. From his heroic service in Vietnam to his years as prosecutor and lieutenant governor, through two decades in the United States Senate, he has devoted himself to this country.

Again and again, we’ve seen him make tough choices when easier ones were available. His values and his record affirm what is best in us. John Kerry believes in an America where hard work is rewarded. So instead of offering tax breaks to companies shipping jobs overseas, he’ll offer them to companies creating jobs here at home. John Kerry believes in an America where all Americans can afford the same health coverage our politicians in Washington have for themselves. John Kerry believes in energy independence, so we aren’t held hostage to the profits of oil companies or the sabotage of foreign oil fields. John Kerry believes in the constitutional freedoms that have made our country the envy of the world, and he will never sacrifice our basic liberties nor use faith as a wedge to divide us. And John Kerry believes that in a dangerous world, war must be an option, but it should never be the first option.

A while back, I met a young man named Shamus at the VFW Hall in East Moline, Illinois. He was a good-looking kid, six-two or six-three, clear eyed, with an easy smile. He told me he’d joined the Marines and was heading to Iraq the following week. As I listened to him explain why he’d enlisted, his absolute faith in our country and its leaders, his devotion to duty and service, I thought this young man was all any of us might hope for in a child.
But then I asked myself: Are we serving Shamus as well as he was serving us? I thought of more than 900 service men and women, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, friends and neighbors, who will not be returning to their hometowns. I thought of families I had met who were struggling to get by without a loved one’s full income, or whose loved ones had returned with a limb missing or with nerves shattered, but who still lacked long-term health benefits because they were reservists. When we send our young men and women into harm’s way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they’re going, to care for their families while they’re gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world.

Now let me be clear. We have real enemies in the world. These enemies must be found. They must be pursued and they must be defeated. John Kerry knows this. And just as Lieutenant Kerry did not hesitate to risk his life to protect the men who served with him in Vietnam, President Kerry will not hesitate one moment to use our military might to keep America safe and secure. John Kerry believes in America. And he knows it’s not enough for just some of us to prosper.

For alongside our famous individualism, there’s another ingredient in the American saga. A belief that we are connected as one people. If there’s a child on the south side of Chicago who can’t read, that matters to me, even if it’s not my child. If there’s a senior citizen somewhere who can’t pay for her prescription and has to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it’s not my grandmother. If there’s an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties. It’s that fundamental belief—I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sisters’ keeper—that makes this country work. It’s what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family. “E pluribus unum.” Out of many, one.

Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there’s not a liberal America and a conservative America—there’s the United States of America. There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I’ve got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don’t like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.

In the end, that’s what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope? John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope. I’m not talking about blind optimism here—the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don’t talk about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it.

No, I’m talking about something more substantial. It’s the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker’s son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. The audacity of hope! In the end, that is God’s greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation; the belief in things not seen; the belief that there are better days ahead. I believe we can give our middle class relief and provide working families with a road to opportunity.

I believe we can provide jobs to the jobless, homes to the homeless, and reclaim young people in cities across America from violence and despair. I believe that as we stand on the crossroads of history, we can make the right choices, and meet the challenges that face us. America! Tonight, if you feel the same energy I do, the same urgency I do, the same passion I do, the same hopefulness I do—if we do what we must do, then I have no doubt that all across the country, from Florida to Oregon, from Washington to Maine, the people will rise up in November, and John Kerry will be sworn in as president, and John Edwards will be sworn in as vice president, and this country will reclaim its promise, and out of this long political darkness a brighter day will come. Thank you and God bless you.
!

[politicalmaniac]

his auto biography isnt bad either
the speech was a hit!

[job]

I understand the man called Mutua has a job to protect,...... by showing his boss how hard he is actually working, but.......

Having waited until Sen. Obama left the country back for the US, the not-too-savvy govt. spokesman of Narc-K now comes out with this unceremonious and elementary-level statement,.....ati responding to Obama's criticisms of NARC for; corruption, tribalism, insecurity, unequal wealth distribution, and bashing of crooked elements in government purportedly shielding Felicien Kabuga.

This infantile response exposes the mediocrity, ineptitude, and lack of tact by this Kibaki administration.

Why expose this blatant denial to the whole world when the international media is still abuzz covering & reporting the Obama trip.

Is there no corruption or tribalism in Kenya? What of insecurity? Is Mutua aware that multiple & credible foreign intelligence sources are privy to Kabuga's whereabouts, and the protection offered by crooked security elements in Narc? Does Mutua know that Obama sits and has influence in the US Senate's Foreign Policy Committee and from that vantage has access to highly classified intelligence?

Talking of a $ 5 million bounty,..who knows how much Kabuga has paid his protectors?

I hope Mutua realizes that he is not trying to address a bunch of fools called Kenyans (the way his boss assumes),...with this staement full of twisted and simplistic logic. What I am sure is that this after-thought statement will not merit any response from Obama.

Here is the official crap from Mutua;

MUTUA'S FULL STATEMENT

RESPONSE TO AMERICAN SENATOR BARACK OBAMA’S POORLY INFORMED COMMENTS ABOUT TERRORISM, WANTED GENOCIDE CRIMINALS AND GOVERNANCE IN KENYA


Senator Barack Obama indicated that he was visiting Africa to help nurture relations between the continent and the United States. His mission, therefore, was warmly welcomed by the Government and the people of Kenya. The fact that he has roots in Kenya endeared him to the people of this country.

However, during his public address at the University of Nairobi, Senator Obama made extremely disturbing statements on issues which it is clear, he was very poorly informed, and on which he chose to lecture the Government and the people of Kenya on how to manage our country.

We would like to make the following facts clear:

a) Kenya is no less vulnerable to terrorism than the United States or any other country. Kenya has in the past suffered incidents of terrorism because of our friendship with the United States and not because as a people, we are less efficient in the management of our security.
Indeed, his own country and other countries with higher levels of development, have had more incidences of terrorism despite their sophisticated security systems.
Therefore, blaming terrorist attacks in Kenya on possible corruption is highly misplaced and insincere. Using his logic, then, it follows that the terrorist attacks in the United States and other countries are as a result of corrupt border and customs police in his own country and other countries which have experienced incidents of terrorism.

b) The allegation that wanted Rwandese genocide fugitive Felicen Kabuga may have purchased safe haven in Kenya is an insult to the people of this country and negates the fact that Kenya, Rwanda and the United Nations have an excellent track record in collaboration in the search and apprehending of Rwandese suspects.
This country has turned over to the United Nations Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda the highest number of genocidal suspects for trial.
For that reason also, this country cannot be a safe haven for any genocide suspect and especially Kabuga.
If it was an issue of corruption money, as Senator Obama states, then the bounty of US$5 million (Kshs 365 million) being offered by the United States for the apprehension of Kabuga, would be irresistible to the alleged corrupt police.
If anybody knows where Kabuga is, this Government would like to know so that we can apprehend him immediately and hand him over to the tribunal.

c) Senator Obama enjoyed the vibrant freedom of expression and wide democratic space existing in this country, during his tour.
Instead of acknowledging this big leap in this country, he chose to dwell on none issues as far as the governance of this country is concerned.
He ignored the fact that strengthening of democracy and institutions of Governance has been the strongest thrust of this Government. Today, every Kenyan can openly talk about and address issues of corruption without fear and associate himself or herself to any political party he or she chooses.
Bold decisions have made to bring down the rate of corruption with great success.
For example, the success in our fighting corruption is evidenced by the fact that Kenya is one of the best performing countries in Africa in the collection of public revenue and the economy has had a turn-around from near zero percent (0%), three years ago, to about six percent (6%) economic growth today. This cannot be achieved in a country, which Senator Obama says, is experiencing a “corruption crisis.”

d) Senator Obama also trivialized the harmony and peaceful co-existence that exists between different ethnic groups and races that live in this country, and chose to magnify tribalism as a major problem in this country.

During Senator Obama’s visit, the Government spared no effort in making his stay and travel all over the country enjoyable and fulfilling. Senator Barack Obama is welcome to come again to learn more about the country, the Government and the people of this country.


Dr. Alfred N. Mutua
PUBLIC COMMUNICATION SECRETARY &
GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON

August 31, 2006