Kenyans' Obama

Obama amefanikiwa kupata kura nyingi na kuchaguliwa kuwa rais wa Marekani, kwangu mimi binafsi nilikuwa nampa support Obama sio kwa sababu ya rangi/asili yake ila kwa sababu ya sera zake haswa kuhusiana na mambo ya nje!
Nimekuwa nikiishi kenya kwa kipindi chote cha kampeni za Obama na kusema kweli nilichokuja kugundua ni kwamba hapa Kenya ushabiki ambao wamempatia Obama ni kwa sababu baba yake Obama alikuwa ni MJALUO aliyezaliwa huko Kogelo - Nyangóma kisumu. Hii imepelekea watu hata kutengeneza banners, Tshirts, Badges zenye maneno kama "Kenyans Obama" , "Obama son of Kogelo" na sasa hivi nahisi zinakuja zenye maneno kama "Obama Jaluo president"!!! Hizi kwa uelewa wangu ni statement za kibaguzi na zinaashiria wazi jinsi ambavyo waafrika tumekuwa na hisia na imani za kibaguzi miyoni mwetu!

Leo hii Kenya imetangaza kesho tarehe 6 Nov 2008 kuwa sikukuu ati Obama day!!! Hii imenisurprise mno ila ndo hivyo we are celebrating Obama becomeing the US president in kenya does this mean Obama is also the presodent of Kenya or??

Sina mengi ila haya ndo mambo machache kati ya yale ambayo yanaifanya Tz isite kuingia ktk hii jumuiya iliyovunjika miaka kadhaa iliyopita (EAC)!!

Naomba mawazo yenu wana JF was it right to brand Obama with all those names as if Kenyans want to prove something to the rest of the world???

thnx

You are absolutely right. What are they celebrating? What messeges are they trying to give??

But as long as it is Kenya, I won't be surprised. To them, the tribe comes first and anything else later. While I think EAC might have a strong impact in breaking these long held mindsets in the region, we would rather put most of our energy in re-building our economy first. We don't have any reason to start the EA unification process of breaking tribal barriers now; because we have more pressing issues to deal with i.e cleaning our own house and putting things in order (economy, leadership etc) . We wouln't mind....can postpone EAC for a while.

Its more of emotional behaviour than rational!
Obama in his speech today finalised by saying "Thank you....may God bless the United States of Amerika" I didnt hear even one word mentioned about Kenya!!!

Fundi Mchundo kawambia hapa, they should feel ashamed kwa kum-abandon mtoto, kalelewa na wenzao sasa kawa rais wanataka kum claim.

They should take a page from Shaq's song "Biological Didn't Bother"

And this national holiday business is an insult to the Dedan Kimathis who died in Mau Mau, it only exposes a gleeful and wanton abandon to all rationality and reasonable modesty.

Pundit said:

Fundi Mchundo kawambia hapa, they should feel ashamed kwa kum-abandon mtoto, kalelewa na wenzao sasa kawa rais wanataka kum claim.

They should take a page from Shaq's song "Biological Didn't Bother"

And this national holiday business is an insult to the Dedan Kimathis who died in Mau Mau, it only exposes a gleeful and wanton abandon to all rationality and reasonable modesty.

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That used to be my joint....

Kwa hiyo 11/4/08 itakuwa national holiday kila mwaka Kenya....?

Nyani Ngabu said:

That used to be my joint....

Kwa hiyo 11/4/08 itakuwa national holiday kila mwaka Kenya....?

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pole sana nyani

Whilst reading other newspapers, there were criticisms vide his visit in 2006,wherein the Kenyan Govt. spokesman Alfred Mutua stated "Obama is a only a senator" and this was also said by the Kenyan Ambassador to USA.These gentleman now are singing songs of praise for Obama..
Likewise, at his grandmother's village, roads, electricity and police posts are being set up!

They say He is a 'son' of kenya and hence the rejoicement.

My question though, is although we should feel immensly proud of Obama's roots (1/2) originating from this part of Africa, what do we really expect from him? will indeed his election provide a boon interms of funding,development etc to us?This president (to be-as now sworn in yet!) has inherited a country which has its own dilemma's of economical woes, wars, scandals etc..when will he indeed be able to 'solve'USA's problems and than perhaps look at us..so until than, we will continue to rejoice the election but not the fruits-per say.

Nilikwisha sema If you want to do anything stupid or foolish in Kenya just do it in the name of Obama!

Dark City said:

You are absolutely right. What are they celebrating? What messeges are they trying to give??

But as long as it is Kenya, I won't be surprised. To them, the tribe comes first and anything else later. While I think EAC might have a strong impact in breaking these long held mindsets in the region, we would rather put most of our energy in re-building our economy first. We don't have any reason to start the EA unification process of breaking tribal barriers now; because we have more pressing issues to deal with i.e cleaning our own house and putting things in order (economy, leadership etc) . We wouln't mind....can postpone EAC for a while.

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Mkuu tunajuwa kuwa tribalism Kenya imekomaa...ila kama Obama anaweza kuwaleta pamoja itakuwa ni chachu kwa Afrika...Kwasababu hata Kibaki si mkikuyu?

Na Obama ni jaluo so as Odinga...Kwahiyo kama wote wana celebrate kama one Kenya...Then na waafrika wote wa celbrate kama ONE AFRIKA...Ni chachu ambayo itatuleta pamoja kwani waafrika tumezoea kubisha na kuwa critical bila kuwa na solutions.

Hakuna kiongozi wa marekani ambaye mataifa yetu ya Afrika hayamuogopi na kujishauwa ili wapate misaada..Na kwa miaka yote ni wazungu tu...Kisaikolojia na wao wanajiona kama watakuwa wanaongea na mtu mwenye kujuwa matatizo ya waafrika vizuri zaidi na mwenye mtizamo wa tofauti kuhusiana na namna ya kuyatatuwa matatizo hayo ya waafrika.

Cha muhimu ni kwa waafrika hao kujuwa kuwa ni waafrika wenyewe watakaoyatatuwa matatizo yao na si wafadhili peke yao.
Na hivyo basi Kibaki na makabila mengine kufurahia ushindi wa jaluo ni hatua muhimu.

Hopeless Kenyans! All they think about is "ukabila"...ati Obama mkenya! ebo! mkenya achaguliwe rais wa USA? Kwanza wakenya wanakashifa ya kumtelekeza Obama...babaake aliingia mitini...shame shame!. Kuwa na mirais miezee, 70+ kama Mwai na Mgabe ni matatizo kweli. Unatangaza mapumziko kwa ajili ya uchaguzi wa nchi nyingine! shit!Tena Mwai hakuwa na credibility ya kufanya kitu kama hicho baada ya kuingiza nchi kwenye machafuko makubwa mwaka huu. Alikataa demokrasia, lakini leo anashangilia demokrasia ya nchi nyingine! Obama wangembania kama yy alivyomfanyia Odinga, angetangaza mapumziko? Shame shame shame upon Kenyans and their bogus leadership.

deshbhakt said:

Whilst reading other newspapers, there were criticisms vide his visit in 2006,wherein the Kenyan Govt. spokesman Alfred Mutua stated "Obama is a only a senator" and this was also said by the Kenyan Ambassador to USA.These gentleman now are singing songs of praise for Obama..
Likewise, at his grandmother's village, roads, electricity and police posts are being set up!

They say He is a 'son' of kenya and hence the rejoicement.

My question though, is although we should feel immensly proud of Obama's roots (1/2) originating from this part of Africa, what do we really expect from him? will indeed his election provide a boon interms of funding,development etc to us?This president (to be-as now sworn in yet!) has inherited a country which has its own dilemma's of economical woes, wars, scandals etc..when will he indeed be able to 'solve'USA's problems and than perhaps look at us..so until than, we will continue to rejoice the election but not the fruits-per say.

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Desh,

You raise a very interesting question. I will not be surprised at all if Obama may not be able to give "handouts" if that is what is expected.

Obama will face a tough time to maintain all appearances that he is not for favoring African Americans, let alone Africans.His position on foreign aid for example, will be more scrutinized than George Bush's, primarily because there is a perception that he has a connection to Kenya and Africa.George Bush did not have to fight that, so rather than expecting foreign aid to increase, I will not be surprised if it actually goes down.

What I am looking forward to, are some innovative way to transcend foreign aid and some wishy washy "trade not aid" politically opportunistic tired cliche with no substance. Obama, given the right challenge, can deliver a way forward that will be mutually beneficial to both Africa and America in such a way that there will be no base for a backlash from his constituency.

If his books are a reliable window to his personal philosophy on giving, he described the moving feelings he used to experienc everytime he saw beggars, a sort of tingling guilt and responsibility to be able to help every one of them.But he realized he could not and learnt to block it from his conscious, partly not wanting to deal with the weight.I suspect that is part of the reason he was so interested in community organizing. What interesting ways to approach these age old problems remains to be explored.

Time will tell.