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Obama Is Kenya's Favorite Son
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Candidate
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| Contributor | Gerald Farinas |
| Last Edited | Gerald Farinas Aug 13, 2004 02:04pm |
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| Category | News |
| News Date | Friday, August 13, 2004 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Obama Is Kenya's Favorite Son
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When it comes to U.S. politics the world may be focused on the presidential election but in Kenya, a U.S. Senate race in Illinois is grabbing the headlines and the attention. No matter that Barack Obama, the rising star of last month's Democratic convention in Boston, lives thousands of miles away and is the favorite to win a job where his primary influence will be in the United States, not in this East African nation where politics are a byword for corruption and tribal rivalries. Obama, whose name Barack means "blessed" in Swahili, is to Kenya what John F. Kennedy was to Ireland, the country's favorite American son and a source of hope for a better future. His bid to become only the third African-American U.S. senator since the 19th century is closely followed by the Kenyan press, by politicians eager to bask in his reflected glow and by a population looking for a savior. "If he were to be lucky enough to win the race, the community of Africa will be accepted by the Western cultures," said James Oballo Ojwang, a tribal chief meeting with junior chiefs not far from the village where Obama's father was raised. "All of the African countries will be happy about Obama. He has brought all of this community and Kenya in relation with all of America." Many Kenyans, inspired by Obama's quintessentially American story of rising from humble beginnings by hard work and education, dream it will become the norm in their country, where two decades of government has shown corruption and tribal connections often trump those ideals. |
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