KENYA: U.S President Obama's family in rural Kenyan village say they feared rigging in US poll

Record ID: 362418

  • Title: KENYA: U.S President Obama's family in rural Kenyan village say they feared rigging in US poll
  • Date: 7th November 2012
  • Summary: KOGELO, KENYA (NOVEMBER 7, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S HALF BROTHER MUSTAFA OBAMA TENDING TO THEIR FATHER'S GRAVE MORE OF MUSTAFA TENDING TO GRAVE, OTHER VILLAGERS LOOKING ON (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S HALF BROTHER MUSTAFA OBAMA, SAYING: "We were very nervous in fact we thought that there was a plan to rig my brother o
  • Embargoed: 22nd November 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6HL5RFLHGXY0YNTC3AQGKPDY0
  • Story Text: In their rural Kenyan village of Kogelo, Obama's family express relief as Obama wins a second term as US president. They say they feared he would be rigged out.


    As the world awoke to the news that Americans had voted Barack Obama into a second term in office, in a far away village in Kenya, Mustafa Obama, the presidents half brother was tending to their father's grave to honour him for giving birth to a hero that Kogelo village remember always.
    The grave within the compound is a reminder of Barack Obama's father, Barack Hussein Obama, who died in a car accident.
    As vote numbers started streaming in, Mitt Romney had a sailing lead that got the family worried. Obama's half brother Mustafa Obama said the family was very nervous and even thought the votes were rigged in favour of Romney. Possibly thinking of Kenyan and regional politics where the loser cries foul and calls the elections fraudulent.
    However, as time went by, Obama took a commanding lead giving the family hope.
    "We were very nervous infact we thought that there was a plan to rig my brother out because every time his supporters were voting the outcome was saying Romney instead of saying Obama so we were very nervous, so we thought that those guys were trying to play a game on us but eventually we won." said Mustafa Obama.
    Kogelo village where Obama's father was born kept vigil the whole night while watching television in different locations and after a long night wait, they danced to celebrate Obama's victory.
    Kogelo residents had held a mock election earlier where Obama defeated Mitt Romney in Obama's late fathers' village.
    Mustafa would like his brother to pay more attention to Africa with an emphasis on the continents perennual problems.
    "If I had a chance to talk to him which hopefully I will get after he's inaugurated again, my message would be to focus on Africa and if he can put more emphasis education, health and all that matters to Africa instead of politics, that is my message to my brother," Mustafa added.
    When Obama took over the presidency, Kogelo was a sleeping village but that changed as roads were constructed and electricity which was unheard of before was finally wired to the village.
    Now with Obama's re-election, Kogelo hopes more development will be delivered to their village to usher the new development.
    Villagers flocked Obama's step grandmothers home and watched as Mustafa tended to his father's grave.
    Mustafa narrated how Obama got the name Barry and insisted its only the family that call him Barry.
    "The reason why we call him Barry, Barry is like a short name for Barack which is my father's name and my father they used to call him Barryhis friends used to call him Barry. I can remember vividly when we first met when he came to Kenya in 1986 and we used to call him that and he liked the way we used to call him Barry. It is only the family members who call him Barry," said Mustafa.
    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.
    ENDS
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