What Kenyans Think about an Obama Win

Monica-Wanambisi Mwesel

Sarah Hussein Obama (at right), Barrack Obama's grandmother, points to a campaign bumper sticker. She listened on the radio for updates from the New Hampshire Primaries.

Senator Barack Obama of Illinois made history by becoming the first African American to win the presidential nomination of a major U.S. political party. There was joy across the black Diaspora, from North America and the Caribbean to the African motherland itself. In Kenya though, the prospect of an Obama win has elicited varied opinions.

Most Kenyans feel that, should Obama win, their lives will definitely improve. Those in the rural areas think they will gain access to electricity and enough water to better their lives. This is because they think that development in Kenya will improve as America is a major donor to Kenya. Many assume that by being connected to Kenya, Obama would be empowered to send vast amounts of U.S. aid to their country. Since graft and corruption are common to both the Islamic and the Democratic parties, certainly most of this money would go to the promotion of an Islamic state and then financing the conversion of other African states to Islam. Many assume that Obama will channel resources that will go a long way in improving the lives of the people.

On his last visit to Kenya, Senator Obama visited two area schools that had been renamed for him. The intention in renaming the schools seems to have been partly to attract funding. Some people stated that it was a shame that a school named for a great American should be so dilapidated.

Poverty in Kogelo village where Obama’s father was born is very rampant. Most people are taking this as an opportunity to change their circumstances. Some said that they stay up very late to listen to the news from the U.S. Others have suddenly declared themselves relatives, invoking Obama as their meal ticket. They have even made arrangements with a tour group to bring buses of visitors to have tea with Mama Sarah—Obama’s grandmother. Others try to raise money from interviews with her.

Many Kenyans have decided to “own” Barack Obama. They believe he has done their community and their country proud and they think that if he wins they will always see him as a Kenyan leading a great nation. This is prestige to them. Those who wish to go to America, either for study or to work, feel that they will get a chance to do so since America will purportedly be like an extension of Kenya. Raila Odinga, who has claimed to be Obama’s cousin, remarked after Obama clinched the Democratic Party nomination that his victory was a momentous occasion in history since for the first time ever in the western world, the people had chosen a person of African heritage to run for the highest office in the land. He added that it was a moment Kenyans could savor with pride. Other relatives of Obama have declared that Obama “belongs” to them. When he takes over as president they are hopeful of benefiting from him. The Luo tribe, for instance, feel that an Obama presidency will help develop their area and provide jobs to the youth.

A widespread assumption is that, being a Kenyan, Obama understands the problems Kenyans face. Hence they expect more foreign aid from him. They wonder why they should stay poor while they have a Kenyan president of the U.S. Others even think he will double U.S. aid to Kenya. Still others think his win will bolster the image of Kenyans, as well as Americans globally. Some Kenyans assume that the issue of blacks being an “inferior” race will go away. Kenyans also believe that Obama’s victory is likely to spur western interest in their country. They expect to augment tourist visits into Nyanza and other parts of the country. The tourism sector, which has been in the doldrums, would purportedly be revived.

Kenyans hope that an Obama presidency would provide substantial help to their country. His visit to Kenya and agreement to take an HIV test before thousands of onlookers in Kenya, plus a visit to his grandmother’s village, makes Kenyans feel confident that he belongs to them.

Nevertheless, and perhaps counterintuitively, close to half of Kenyans dread the prospects of an Obama presidency. Fractured along ethnic lines due to western colonialism, some communities are uncomfortable with an Obama win. The Kikuyu tribe fear that Obama’s victory will boast the chances of Raila Odinga, who is a Luoccai like Obama, to ascend to the presidency. These could portend declining fortunes for Kibaki and his Kikuyu tribe. The Kikuyu also fear that, should Obama win, the Luo and Prime Minister Raila Odinga will gain a significant edge in influencing American policy. It is therefore very clear that Senator Obama draws frenzied support from the Luo ethnic group of his ancestors, while many members of the rival Kikuyu group do not support him. The majority of the Kikuyu, in fact, favored New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton during the Democratic primaries.

Monica-Wanambisi Mweseli is a literature professor at the University of Nairobi, and author of Thought and Technique in the Poetry of Okot P’Bitek (1994).