As a good friend said yesterday to Polimom, Kenyans greeted US Senator Barack Obama as a rock star:
KISUMU, Kenya (CNN) — Tens of thousands of Kenyans lined the streets of Kisumu on Saturday, giving U.S. Sen. Barack Obama a hero’s welcome as he arrived to visit the nearby village where his late father and grandfather lived.
Massive crowds screamed “Obama, Obama” and waved flags emblazoned with his name and face, as the 45-year-old junior senator from Illinois rode through the streets in a truck flanked by a lengthy convoy.
Hoping to leverage his status, Senator Obama and his wife publicly took an AIDS test to inspire others… but he never lost sight of who he represents:
Since his election, many in poor Kogelo village have been creating a to-do-list of projects he can fund. But Obama — whose first name Barack means “blessed” in Swahili — has tried to dampen expectations of what he can provide.
“I think people understand that I am the senator from Illinois, not the senator from Kogelo,” he said.
The village of Obama’s father is understandably — and justifiably — proud of their son, but oddly, my friend’s tone was slightly disapproving, leading Polimom to ask whether he understood what was going on there.
It turns out that this friend, based on scanned headlines, saw Senator Obama’s visit to that very small village as an Alex Haley-inspired photo-op by an aspiring politician. He thought Obama was sensationalizing a return to his “ancestral roots”.
Ancestors? Roots?
Ummmm…. Polimom’s father is not the first person who comes to mind when I think of my ancestors, or my grandfather either. In fact, my African ancestors are at least seven generations removed; if I ever manage to make the direct connection to some small, poor village there, nobody will know my name.
And that’s okay. My accomplishments belong me, my family, and America, alone.
Barack Obama is the native son of two continents and a man whose success and achievements can be appreciated by everyone. Anywhere.
This article talks about how Obama saw first hand how microloan programs are helping. I hope he uses his influence to raise the awareness of programs like Kiva, which are essential for the stage when areas are stable enough that they don’t need much traditional charitable aid (which can actually damage the local economy and make matters worse), but too poor for normal financial institutions to care about them.
Mikkel — I may be veering off topic too radically, but your comment (and the article) brought New Orleans to mind.
Leaving aside the dissonance that occurs when one realizes New Orleans is in America (rather than a third world country), it’s an interesting concept to apply there.
Kenya has stepped up criticism of US Senator Barack Obama, accusing him of insulting the Kenyan people and trivializing their achievements during a visit to his father’s homeland.Two days after abruptly changing its tone on Obama, who had been welcomed as a returning hero but incurred official wrath with blistering criticism of corruption and ethnic divisions, Nairobi launched a new attack on the lawmaker Thursday.
Less than 24 hours after the rising US political star left Kenya to continue an African tour, government spokesman Alfred Mutua blasted Obama for choosing “to dwell on non-issues” in a nationally televised speech on Monday.
“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 on how they should manage their country,” he said.
Mutua said the government would write a formal protest to the junior senator from Illinois who he suggested had falsely claimed his trip to Africa was intended to “nuture relations between the continent and the United States.”
Noting the government had “spared no effort in making his stay and travel … enjoyable and fulfilling,” Mutua said Obama’s criticism of President Mwai Kibaki’s administration was unfair, unwarranted and unjustified by facts.
He said Obama was wrong in asserting that Rwandan genocide fugitive Felicien Kabuga had bought protection in Kenya, that graft had plunged the country into “crisis” and that dangerous tribal divisions were on the rise.
Obama’s comment about Kabuga “is an insult to the people of this country,” Mutua said, adding he had “ignored” accomplishments in fighting corruption and boosting economic growth from near zero to six percent in three years.
“This cannot be achieved in a country, which Senator Obama says, is experiencing a corruption crisis,” he said, before slamming the lawmaker for allegedly “trivializing” Kenya’s ethnic harmony and “magnifying tribalism.”
“Senator Obama enjoyed the vibrant freedom of expression and wide democratic space in this country during his tour,” Mutua said. “Instead of acknowledging this… he chose to dwell on non-issues.”
A day after Obama’s stinging speech at the University of Nairobi, Mutua dismissed the lone African-American in the Senate and potential Democratic Party presidential nominee as “immature” and an opposition stooge.
But his harsh comments on Thursday marked a new escalation in animosity between the government and Obama, who left Kenya late Wednesday
Hmmmm . . . .
I suppose that’s what happens if a politician actually dares to speak truth to power. Maybe that’s why so few of them dare to do so.
On the other hand, Kenya is a model of good government compared to Nigeria . . .