Why has Obama skipped Kenya?

Dar es Salaam. While the visit of President Barack Obama has injected the feel-good factor in Tanzania, the question across the border is “Why not Kenya?”

Barack Obama Senior was Kenyan, and his father’s village of Kogelo in Siaya County has never been the same since the younger Obama made history as the first black man in the White House.

The formerly sleepy village received running water and electricity from the government in a matter of days after Obama’s victory and has since become a tourist attraction.

On the eve of Obama’s second go at the presidency, the people of Kogelo gathered in the compound of the now-famous Mama Sarah, his step-grandmother, for an all-night vigil followed by a big feast after the announcement that Wuod Alego (Son of Alego) had won a second term.

Obama’s Kenyan roots have not been a big thing only in Kenya and Africa. In the US, Republicans and conservative hardliners attempted unsuccessfully to portray the Hawaii-born, not as an American who traces his roots to Kenya, but as a Kenyan-born imposter in American politics.

The subject soon came up in the world of stand-up comedy. When Obama was seeking his first term in office, celebrated American comedian Chris Tucker jokingly predicted that the then youthful candidate would floor his Republican rival, John McCain, because he was—well, Kenyan. “You can’t race a Kenyan and win,” Tucker joked. Obama lived up to the challenge.

Now in his second and final term in office, the 44th President of the United States, his wife Michelle and their two daughters Malia and Sasha are coming “home”. It is only that they will be at the neighbour’s place. Tanzania will be his last stop after Senegal and South Africa. So, the question is Why not Kenya? A story in the Daily Nation with the headline “Obama snub may be linked to ICC, but it has consequences for Kenya” may offer some direction. According to the story, the snub was tied to the fact that president of the United States—the world’s only super power and self-appointed defender of democracy, human rights and rule of law—could not visit a country led by president and deputy president who have both been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

But then Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush too gave Kenya a miss in their Africa trips when the ICC thing was not at play. On the contrary, the two visited Tanzania in 2000 and 2008 respectively.

In an interview with The Citizen recently, Tanzanian senior counsel and chairperson of the Mwalimu Nyerere professorial chair in Pan-African Studies, Prof Issa Shivji noted that when it comes to interests and big power politics, the origin or colour of the person in the White House does not count.

“I think Western powers are blowing hot and cold on the new regime in Kenya thus keeping it on a short leash.” He said.