Post by nyamwezi on Oct 25, 2015 15:55:29 GMT 3
21 striking similarities between Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and US President Barack Obama, as well as 3 other interesting links between both;
1. Both men were born in 1961, Uhuru on 26th October 1961, Barack on 4th August 1961
2. Both their wives were born in 1964 i.e. Margaret Kenyatta was born on 9th April 1964, while Michelle Obama was born on 17th January 1964
3. Both men are left-handed
4. Both men are Kenyans
5. Both men do not have Christian names even though both men are both practising Christians. Uhuru's full names are Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, while Barack's full names are Barack Hussein Obama
6. The first names of both men have profound meanings in Kiswahili, the Lingua Franca of East and Central Africa. "Uhuru" means "Freedom" in Kiswahili, while "Barack" is derived from "Baraka" which means blessings in Kiswahili
7. Both men are from two big Kenyan tribes. Uhuru is a Kikuyu, while Barack is a Luo
8. Both men lead sharply divided and polarised countries. Kenya is worryingly divided on ethnic lines, while the United States of America is worryingly divided on ideological lines i.e. Democrats and Republicans, the Left and the Right
9. Both men value their roots and heritage. Uhuru speaks excellent Kikuyu and very good Kiswahili, while the Barack visited his ancestral Nyang’oma-Kogelo village in Kenya’s Nyanza Province as a "nobody" at least twice i.e. 1987 and 1991. Barack even visited in the company of Michelle in 1991
10. Uhuru reputedly drank heavily in his youth, while Barack reputedly smoked marijuana in his youth
11. Both have an excellent command of the English language and both men are excellent orators in English
12. Both men picked up their excellent oratory skills from their fathers. Jomo Kenyatta was an excellent orator and the same applies to Barack Hussein Obama Senior. Of significance, Barack Sr. visited Barack Jr. and his mother for a month in Hawaii in December 1971. One of the highlights of the senior Obama's visit to Hawaii in December 1971 was a brief speech on Africa that the senior Obama gave to the junior Obama's classmates & teachers at Punahou School. It was a speech that electrified & captivated the audience, and after this, the junior Obama got never ending accolades, tributes & compliments from his classmates & teachers, about how great a speaker & orator his father was. This is probably the single-most event in the junior Obama's life, 10 years old at the time, that shaped and moulded the junior Obama's sense of identity, ambition, character and crisp oratory skills, even though father and son never met again in person after this, only exchanging letters between December 1971 and November 1982, when the senior Obama died in a road accident
13. Both men's fathers had four wives. Jomo Kenyatta's four wives were Grace Wahu, Grace Wanjiku, Edna Grace Clarke and Ngina, while Barack Senior's four wives were Kezia, Ann, Ruth and Jael
14. Both the senior Kenyatta and the senior Obama were heavy drinkers at certain stages in their lives, and the "hard stuff" at that i.e. & e.g. Bourbon Whiskey, Gin & Vodka
15. Both the senior Kenyatta and the senior Obama are survived by seven children each i.e. Jomo Kenyatta is survived by Margaret Wambui Kenyatta (his daughter with Grace Wahu), Peter Magana Kenyatta (his son with his British wife, Edna Grace Clarke), Jennifer Wambui Kenyatta (his daughter with Grace Wanjiku), and Christina Wambui Kenyatta-Pratt, H.E. Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, Muhoho Kenyatta and Nyokabi Kenyatta-Muthama (his sons & daughters with Mama Ngina Kenyatta), while Barack Hussein Obama Senior is survived by Malik Obama, Dr. Auma Obama, Abo Obama & Ben Obama (his daughter and sons with Kezia), President Barack Obama (his son with Ann Dunham), Mark Okoth Obama (his son with Ruth), and George Obama (his son with Jael)
16. Both Uhuru's father and Barack's father attended prestigious overseas institutions. Uhuru's father went to the London School of Economics, while Barack's father attended Harvard University
17. Both men themselves attended prestigious colleges on the east coast of the United States. Uhuru attended Amherst University on the east coast of the United States, while Barack attended both Columbia University and Harvard University, both on the east coast of the United States
18. Both the junior Kenyatta and the junior Obama were political novices on the national scale in both Kenya and the United States respectively, before both were rather spectacularly launched nationally respectively, three years apart; In 2001, Uhuru Kenyatta was nominated as a Kenyan Member of Parliament, rather unexpectedly one could say, by then Kenyan President, the legendary D.T. arap Moi, and was soon thereafter appointed Kenya's Minister for Local Government by then President Moi. The following year i.e. 2002, outgoing President Moi chose Uhuru Kenyatta as his preferred successor on a Kenya African National Union (KANU) party ticket, but Uhuru ended up losing the 2002 race for the Kenya Presidency to the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) candidate, Mwai Kibaki. Mwai Kibaki garnered 3,646,277 votes against Uhuru Kenyatta's 1,835,890 votes, at the 2002 Kenyan Presidential elections. Uhuru eventually became Kenyan President eleven years later in 2013. On his part, Barack spectacularly rose politically to the national scale in the United States via an electrifying & captivating keynote address he made at the 2004 Democratic Party Convention at which John Kerry was formally launched as the Democratic Party candidate to challenge then US President, George W. Bush, at the US Presidential elections of November 2004. Barack eventually became US President five years later in 2009
19. Both men have a great admiration and regard for their fathers and both men listen to alternative opinion. Uhuru used to keep long hair like his father Jomo, brushed backwards like Jomo used to. Uhuru's year 2002 campaign team advised against this and Uhuru complied. Uhuru has not kept long hair like his father Jomo since 2002. Barack on the other hand, was influenced by his wife Michelle, to drop his chain-smoking habit
20. Both men are humble and down to earth, men of the people
21. Both men are sporting types. Uhuru played rugby for the St. Mary's School, Nairobi, 1st XV side, as a winger, while Barack has been playing basketball since high school
Three other interesting links between President Uhuru Kenyatta and President Barack Obama;
(i) Barack is of mixed-race, while his wife Michelle is not of mixed race. Uhuru is not of mixed race, while Uhuru's wife Margaret is of mixed race
(ii) Barack's father was a senior economist in Kenya's Ministry of Economic Planning when Uhuru's father was President of Kenya. At the time, Barack's father wrote a fiercely hostile critique of Jomo Kenyatta's economic growth & development module for independent Kenya, referred to as Sessional Paper No. 10 of 1965 on African Socialism, which in Jomo Kenyatta's words , combined both "Western Capitalism and Eastern Communism". The senior Obama's dismissal of Jomo Kenyatta's Sessional Paper No. 10 of 1965, earned the senior Obama the wrath of Jomo Kenyatta's inner circle. The senior Obama lost his job at the Ministry of Economic Planning as a result of this. The senior Obama secured a job at the Kenya Tourist Development Corporation (KTDC), after this, but did not also last long at KTDC. While reeling from his second job loss, the senior Obama had the good fortune of bumping into an old acquaintance, Mwai Kibaki, at Nairobi's Hotel Intercontinental. Kibaki, independent Kenya's third President, was then the Kenyan Minister of Finance. The senior Obama did not mince his words, and told Kibaki he was looking for work. Kibaki asked the senior Obama to see him the following week, which the senior Obama promptly did. Kibaki arranged for the senior Obama to be hired at the Ministry of Finance, and the senior Obama was back. The junior Obama appears to have never forgiven the senior Kenyatta for his father's dismissal from the Kenya's Ministry of Economic Planning. When the junior Obama visited Kenya as Senator Obama in 2006, the junior Obama paid glowing tribute to then President Kibaki, referring to Kibaki as a "good man, for giving his father a job at the Ministry of Finance". Senator Obama made no mention at all of Jomo Kenyatta, and omitted laying a wreath at the mausoleum of Jomo Kenyatta, as is customary with visiting dignitaries to Kenya
(iii) Uhuru is from an aristocratic background, while Barack isn't. Uhuru's father Jomo Kenyatta, was independent Kenya's founding Prime Minister and President, and his great-grandfather Kongo wa Magana (i.e. Kongo son of Magana), was a medicine-man ("Mundu Mugo"). On the other hand, Barack's Kenyan grandfather, Onyango Hussein, was a cook in colonial Kenya's army, what was then known as the Kings African Rifles (KAR)
Source: www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10203433625464052&set=a.3578859472884.2137092.1315061089&type=3&src=https%3A%2F%2Fscontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net%2Fhphotos-xaf1%2Ft31.0-8%2F10633937_10203433625464052_8835367977360601061_o.jpg&smallsrc=https%3A%2F%2Fscontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net%2Fhphotos-xfp1%2Fv%2Ft1.0-9%2F10431690_10203433625464052_8835367977360601061_n.jpg%3Foh%3D3c95d5d753e63bc6f75f7a5d9097cf6e%26oe%3D5618EC36&size=1003%2C552
1. Both men were born in 1961, Uhuru on 26th October 1961, Barack on 4th August 1961
2. Both their wives were born in 1964 i.e. Margaret Kenyatta was born on 9th April 1964, while Michelle Obama was born on 17th January 1964
3. Both men are left-handed
4. Both men are Kenyans
5. Both men do not have Christian names even though both men are both practising Christians. Uhuru's full names are Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, while Barack's full names are Barack Hussein Obama
6. The first names of both men have profound meanings in Kiswahili, the Lingua Franca of East and Central Africa. "Uhuru" means "Freedom" in Kiswahili, while "Barack" is derived from "Baraka" which means blessings in Kiswahili
7. Both men are from two big Kenyan tribes. Uhuru is a Kikuyu, while Barack is a Luo
8. Both men lead sharply divided and polarised countries. Kenya is worryingly divided on ethnic lines, while the United States of America is worryingly divided on ideological lines i.e. Democrats and Republicans, the Left and the Right
9. Both men value their roots and heritage. Uhuru speaks excellent Kikuyu and very good Kiswahili, while the Barack visited his ancestral Nyang’oma-Kogelo village in Kenya’s Nyanza Province as a "nobody" at least twice i.e. 1987 and 1991. Barack even visited in the company of Michelle in 1991
10. Uhuru reputedly drank heavily in his youth, while Barack reputedly smoked marijuana in his youth
11. Both have an excellent command of the English language and both men are excellent orators in English
12. Both men picked up their excellent oratory skills from their fathers. Jomo Kenyatta was an excellent orator and the same applies to Barack Hussein Obama Senior. Of significance, Barack Sr. visited Barack Jr. and his mother for a month in Hawaii in December 1971. One of the highlights of the senior Obama's visit to Hawaii in December 1971 was a brief speech on Africa that the senior Obama gave to the junior Obama's classmates & teachers at Punahou School. It was a speech that electrified & captivated the audience, and after this, the junior Obama got never ending accolades, tributes & compliments from his classmates & teachers, about how great a speaker & orator his father was. This is probably the single-most event in the junior Obama's life, 10 years old at the time, that shaped and moulded the junior Obama's sense of identity, ambition, character and crisp oratory skills, even though father and son never met again in person after this, only exchanging letters between December 1971 and November 1982, when the senior Obama died in a road accident
13. Both men's fathers had four wives. Jomo Kenyatta's four wives were Grace Wahu, Grace Wanjiku, Edna Grace Clarke and Ngina, while Barack Senior's four wives were Kezia, Ann, Ruth and Jael
14. Both the senior Kenyatta and the senior Obama were heavy drinkers at certain stages in their lives, and the "hard stuff" at that i.e. & e.g. Bourbon Whiskey, Gin & Vodka
15. Both the senior Kenyatta and the senior Obama are survived by seven children each i.e. Jomo Kenyatta is survived by Margaret Wambui Kenyatta (his daughter with Grace Wahu), Peter Magana Kenyatta (his son with his British wife, Edna Grace Clarke), Jennifer Wambui Kenyatta (his daughter with Grace Wanjiku), and Christina Wambui Kenyatta-Pratt, H.E. Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, Muhoho Kenyatta and Nyokabi Kenyatta-Muthama (his sons & daughters with Mama Ngina Kenyatta), while Barack Hussein Obama Senior is survived by Malik Obama, Dr. Auma Obama, Abo Obama & Ben Obama (his daughter and sons with Kezia), President Barack Obama (his son with Ann Dunham), Mark Okoth Obama (his son with Ruth), and George Obama (his son with Jael)
16. Both Uhuru's father and Barack's father attended prestigious overseas institutions. Uhuru's father went to the London School of Economics, while Barack's father attended Harvard University
17. Both men themselves attended prestigious colleges on the east coast of the United States. Uhuru attended Amherst University on the east coast of the United States, while Barack attended both Columbia University and Harvard University, both on the east coast of the United States
18. Both the junior Kenyatta and the junior Obama were political novices on the national scale in both Kenya and the United States respectively, before both were rather spectacularly launched nationally respectively, three years apart; In 2001, Uhuru Kenyatta was nominated as a Kenyan Member of Parliament, rather unexpectedly one could say, by then Kenyan President, the legendary D.T. arap Moi, and was soon thereafter appointed Kenya's Minister for Local Government by then President Moi. The following year i.e. 2002, outgoing President Moi chose Uhuru Kenyatta as his preferred successor on a Kenya African National Union (KANU) party ticket, but Uhuru ended up losing the 2002 race for the Kenya Presidency to the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) candidate, Mwai Kibaki. Mwai Kibaki garnered 3,646,277 votes against Uhuru Kenyatta's 1,835,890 votes, at the 2002 Kenyan Presidential elections. Uhuru eventually became Kenyan President eleven years later in 2013. On his part, Barack spectacularly rose politically to the national scale in the United States via an electrifying & captivating keynote address he made at the 2004 Democratic Party Convention at which John Kerry was formally launched as the Democratic Party candidate to challenge then US President, George W. Bush, at the US Presidential elections of November 2004. Barack eventually became US President five years later in 2009
19. Both men have a great admiration and regard for their fathers and both men listen to alternative opinion. Uhuru used to keep long hair like his father Jomo, brushed backwards like Jomo used to. Uhuru's year 2002 campaign team advised against this and Uhuru complied. Uhuru has not kept long hair like his father Jomo since 2002. Barack on the other hand, was influenced by his wife Michelle, to drop his chain-smoking habit
20. Both men are humble and down to earth, men of the people
21. Both men are sporting types. Uhuru played rugby for the St. Mary's School, Nairobi, 1st XV side, as a winger, while Barack has been playing basketball since high school
Three other interesting links between President Uhuru Kenyatta and President Barack Obama;
(i) Barack is of mixed-race, while his wife Michelle is not of mixed race. Uhuru is not of mixed race, while Uhuru's wife Margaret is of mixed race
(ii) Barack's father was a senior economist in Kenya's Ministry of Economic Planning when Uhuru's father was President of Kenya. At the time, Barack's father wrote a fiercely hostile critique of Jomo Kenyatta's economic growth & development module for independent Kenya, referred to as Sessional Paper No. 10 of 1965 on African Socialism, which in Jomo Kenyatta's words , combined both "Western Capitalism and Eastern Communism". The senior Obama's dismissal of Jomo Kenyatta's Sessional Paper No. 10 of 1965, earned the senior Obama the wrath of Jomo Kenyatta's inner circle. The senior Obama lost his job at the Ministry of Economic Planning as a result of this. The senior Obama secured a job at the Kenya Tourist Development Corporation (KTDC), after this, but did not also last long at KTDC. While reeling from his second job loss, the senior Obama had the good fortune of bumping into an old acquaintance, Mwai Kibaki, at Nairobi's Hotel Intercontinental. Kibaki, independent Kenya's third President, was then the Kenyan Minister of Finance. The senior Obama did not mince his words, and told Kibaki he was looking for work. Kibaki asked the senior Obama to see him the following week, which the senior Obama promptly did. Kibaki arranged for the senior Obama to be hired at the Ministry of Finance, and the senior Obama was back. The junior Obama appears to have never forgiven the senior Kenyatta for his father's dismissal from the Kenya's Ministry of Economic Planning. When the junior Obama visited Kenya as Senator Obama in 2006, the junior Obama paid glowing tribute to then President Kibaki, referring to Kibaki as a "good man, for giving his father a job at the Ministry of Finance". Senator Obama made no mention at all of Jomo Kenyatta, and omitted laying a wreath at the mausoleum of Jomo Kenyatta, as is customary with visiting dignitaries to Kenya
(iii) Uhuru is from an aristocratic background, while Barack isn't. Uhuru's father Jomo Kenyatta, was independent Kenya's founding Prime Minister and President, and his great-grandfather Kongo wa Magana (i.e. Kongo son of Magana), was a medicine-man ("Mundu Mugo"). On the other hand, Barack's Kenyan grandfather, Onyango Hussein, was a cook in colonial Kenya's army, what was then known as the Kings African Rifles (KAR)
Source: www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10203433625464052&set=a.3578859472884.2137092.1315061089&type=3&src=https%3A%2F%2Fscontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net%2Fhphotos-xaf1%2Ft31.0-8%2F10633937_10203433625464052_8835367977360601061_o.jpg&smallsrc=https%3A%2F%2Fscontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net%2Fhphotos-xfp1%2Fv%2Ft1.0-9%2F10431690_10203433625464052_8835367977360601061_n.jpg%3Foh%3D3c95d5d753e63bc6f75f7a5d9097cf6e%26oe%3D5618EC36&size=1003%2C552