By Jerry Okungu
Nairobi, Kenya
May 21, 2013
Having been born and
raised in the USA, there is something that Barack Obama doesn’t get. He is
missing the point of being a blood relation of a larger and even extended
family in the true African sense of the word.
However, despite an early
troubled family life soon after he was born and hardly knowing his father in
the true sense of the word, Barack had the courage and presence of mind to come
to Kenya, on his own at the age of 19 to look for his roots and reestablish
that family relationship that he badly needed to give him strength to embark on
the journey to greatness.
When Barack first came to
Kenya, he was neither a Senator nor the President of the United States. He was
not yet a world class celebrity. In fact he was carefree single young man of 19.
However, coming to Kenya
then inspired him to write his first book, “Dreams of My Father” that did not
sell well initially. Indeed books by great men sell faster than those penned by
ordinary mortals. The sales of his books only shot up after he became president.
His second visit to Kenya was soon after getting married to Michelle. He brought his wife to be introduced to Jo'Kogello.
His third and last visit
to Kenya was in 2006 when he was already a Senator of Illinois and alumni of
the Harvard Law School. This visit had all the trappings of American power. He was
heavily guarded by Marines wherever he went including Kogelo.
However, unlike the previous visits, protocol and
security considerations did not allow him to sleep in his grandmother’s hut
like he had done in the past. This time, he didn’t have the luxury of carrying
millet and maize corn to a nearby posho mill for grinding. If anything, despite
the ecstasy with which the entire Kenyan society received him, more so the
euphoria that greeted him in Alego Kogelo, he only spent a few minutes in his
father’s compound and returned to Nairobi to round up his trip in Kenya.
At this point, he had not
even declared his interest in the American presidential race which was just two
years away. And when he chose to
announce that he was in the race for the White House, Kenya, like the rest of
the world was stunned! Questions on
everyone’s lips were: Did he have what it takes to run for the White House? Did
he have a critical mass of voters? Did he have vast resources to make it to the
finishing line? More critically, how would he handle his worthy opponent,
Hilary Clinton who was white, had the cash and name recognition far greater
than this son of a Kenyan? Could he beat Hilary Clinton at the Democratic
Primaries then face John McCain of the Republican Party?
Despite these daunting
handicaps, Kenyans who had seen him perform at the University of Nairobi’s
Great Court during his public lecture somehow believed in him. Yes, he was
following in the footsteps of Jesse Jackson another African American who had
also run for that office way back in 1984. Somehow most people believed that
this lanky son of a Kenyan had the power of persuasion.
In the entire period of
primaries, most Americans had written him off. They knew he would be trounced
by Hilary Clinton. The only people who believed in him were young Americans and
Kenyans at home and Diaspora. In fact it reached a point when every African
country including Nigeria was claiming Obama’s heritage.
The frenzy about Barack
Obama knew no bounds in Kenya. He was the talk of the town in every social
place and village.
I remember visiting the
United States in December 2008 soon after he had won the presidency. Any taxi
driver I used marvelled at the rate at which Kenya was colonizing the United
States. His inauguration became a must attend event even for top government
officials that were not invited.
However, when this Kenyan
American entered the White House, something happened between him and his
fatherland. Most Kenyans expected a triumphant return of their son after
winning the American presidency. It never happened. Instead he visited Egypt
and Ghana in a fleeting trip that took just hours. He gave Kenya a wide berth.
At that time, Kenyans were
not amused but somehow were content with the theory that Kenya’s disputed
elections that had turned violent could have been the reason Obama avoided
Kenya. However, despite calm returning to the country following the signing of
the Grand Coalition between Kibaki and Raila, still Obama avoided Kenya. He
completed his first term without setting foot on Kenya.
Because of this lukewarm
approach to Kenya in his first presidency, there was significant reduction of
enthusiasm in Obama’s presidency when he embarked on his second campaign in
2012. The euphoria of his first term had dissipated. Kenyans had learnt the
hard way that Obama was not a Kenyan but an American President. So, when he won
elections and despite sending a message of congratulations to Uhuru Kenyatta
and William Ruto, Kenyans saw for what it really was, a PR exercise.
It was therefore no
surprise among Kenyans when they woke up early this week to learn from the
American State Department that Obama’s second trip to Africa had again deleted
Kenya. Instead, he would travel to Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania.
Those who know are
explaining that he cannot visit Kenya as long as the current President Kenyatta
and William Ruto still face charges at the ICC.
While this may be true, it
cannot be the main reason to stop him from visiting his fatherland. It has to
do with lack of attachment to the country he has really never called home.
On the flip side; maybe it
is a good thing that he is not coming here. More often than not the harassment
and humiliation the State Department subjects the host country to on such
occasions is not worth it.
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