KENYA: Residents of Kogelo, Obama's ancestral home, celebrate his likely victory in the American election

Record ID: 362408

  • Title: KENYA: Residents of Kogelo, Obama's ancestral home, celebrate his likely victory in the American election
  • Date: 7th November 2012
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Kiswahili) JANJA MATONDO, KOGELO RESIDENT, SAYING: "I'm very happy that Obama has won. I now know that we will finally see developments in our area. We had nothing here but when Obama became president it came with a lot of development."
  • Embargoed: 22nd November 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6QQYWDB88PH0U7RW4H82TQ6CP
  • Story Text: Kogelo residents sang and danced in jubilation at the impending re-election of President Barack Obama on Tuesday (November 7).
    Kogelo village where Obama's late father was born kept vigil the whole night while watching and after a long night wait, they danced to celebrate likely Obama's victory.
    Kogelo residents had held a mock election earlier where Obama defeated Mitt Romney.
    Kogelo resident George Ogila was among those who stayed up the whole night following the results but he says he was not worried when Obama appeared to be trailing Mitt Romney earlier in vote counting.

    "We were perplexed when he was trailing but were now extremely excited. God bless him, he should continue with his work," said Ogila.
    When Obama took over the presidency Kogelo was a sleeping village but while he was in his first term that changed with roads were constructed and electricity wired to the village.
    Now with Obama's re-election, Kogelo hopes more development will be delivered to their village.

    "I'm very happy that Obama has won. I now know that we will finally see developments in our area. We had nothing here but when Obama became president it came with a lot of development," Janja Matondo.
    Sub-Saharan Africa went virtually unnoticed as a topic in the U.S. presidential election campaign, focused heavily as it has been on pressing domestic issues such as the lack of jobs and how to prod America's stuttering economy to faster growth.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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