A New Type of Kenyan Politician

Barack Obama with his Kenyan relatives. Granny Sarah is second from right, front row

Barack Obama’s twin messages of “hope” and “change” are playing pretty well in the US. They’re playing even better in Kenya where his relatives are praying for peace. Here, the allure is simple. After years of misrule by politicians whose only role is to get their tribes’ snouts in the trough, here is a Kenyan politician who seems to mean what he says and stick by his word. It’s just a shame that he’s running for the White House rather than State House.
But while many people see Obama as a new type of politician, many others are hoping that a Luo – the tribe of his father – in the White House, will remember his family around Lake Victoria and use his power and influence to build roads and bring electricity to their tribal lands.