By Muli wa Kyendo

We in Kenya are celebrating with the United States, the imminent election of Barack Obama as the president of that Great Nation. Unlike other countries in the world, we share with the US, the unique position of having one of our own fighting for this very significant seat in the world.

You will, of course, be aware that Obama’s father was a Kenyan, his mother an American. But having been born and grown up in the US, Obama is an American, if we go by the argument of the egocentric but perceptive British author Bernard Shaw, that people are not products of biology but of upbringing.

This Great Obama
Nevertheless, to be thus connected with Obama means that we can, more than any other country outside the US, hope for better things. For example, we can hope that tourism will pick up. Already thousands of Americans—and in deed, other inquisitive communities around the world—are flowing into Kisumu, on the shores of Lake Victoria,to the home of Obama’s grandmother, to see for themselves, the roots of this Great Obama. Hotels and tour operators have their fingers crossed; waiting for the day their rooms will be all fully booked.

Grandmother, Stepbrothers and Cousins

Naturally, we are expecting much more. We are expecting that Obama, the President of the US, will not just stand aside and watch us kill each other as we did during the recent general elections. It will be natural for him to be interested. For we might, in such foolishness, harm his grandmother or kill his cousins and step brothers and sisters. And for the same reason, he will not let us die of starvation because we didn’t prepare our farms when we were busy killing each other over politics and tribalism. This is perfectly natural for us to expect of him and for him to respond positively.

Neon Lights Announce Our Hopes

If you visit our capital city, Nairobi, you will see all these expectations written high and large in revolving neon lights cheering on Obama. If Kenyans had voting power in the US –or if the US (and God forbid!) were Kenya where you can import voters from one place to another – more than 95 per cent of us would vote for Obama, according to a recent research. It’s human. It’s natural.

It is also natural that I say: Let Obama win, not because he’s African -American, but becausehe’s the best thing for America and for the world today.