"He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver" Malachi 3:3
The story below is self explanatory so I wont belabor the point. Read it, meditate upon it this week and above all, be richly blessed. Remember, it is God's utmost desire for His Children to enjoy Abundant life full of all the good things.
'He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.'
This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study. That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: 'He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.' She asked the silversmith if it was true that He had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that He not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, 'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?' He smiled at her and answered, 'Oh, that's easy,' 'When I see my image in it.' If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you."He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver" Malachi 3:3 The story is self explanatory so I wont belabor the point. Read it, meditate upon it this week and above all, be richly blessed. I only ask that after reading, if you know of another person who is not yet a member but who might benefit from this teaching, feel free to invite them to the group and let the Word of God grow in all of us. Remember, it is God's utmost desire for His Children to enjoy Abundant life full of all the good things. Will you help him do that? Receive it today!Malachi 3:3 says: 'He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.' This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study. That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: 'He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.' She asked the silversmith if it was true that He had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that He not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, 'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?' He smiled at her and answered, 'Oh, that's easy,' 'When I see my image in it.' If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you."He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver" Malachi 3:3 The story is self explanatory so I wont belabor the point. Read it, meditate upon it this week and above all, be richly blessed. I only ask that after reading, if you know of another person who is not yet a member but who might benefit from this teaching, feel free to invite them to the group and let the Word of God grow in all of us. Remember, it is God's utmost desire for His Children to enjoy Abundant life full of all the good things. Will you help him do that? Receive it today!Malachi 3:3 says: 'He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.' This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study. That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: 'He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.' She asked the silversmith if it was true that He had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that He not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, 'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?' He smiled at her and answered, 'Oh, that's easy,' 'When I see my image in it.' If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you."He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver" Malachi 3:3 The story is self explanatory so I wont belabor the point. Read it, meditate upon it this week and above all, be richly blessed. I only ask that after reading, if you know of another person who is not yet a member but who might benefit from this teaching, feel free to invite them to the group and let the Word of God grow in all of us. Remember, it is God's utmost desire for His Children to enjoy Abundant life full of all the good things. Will you help him do that? Receive it today!Malachi 3:3 says: 'He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.' This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study. That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: 'He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.' She asked the silversmith if it was true that He had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that He not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, 'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?' He smiled at her and answered, 'Oh, that's easy,' 'When I see my image in it.' If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.
Rachel Oduka
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Are You Related to Barack Obama The World Citizen?
“It was six men of Hindustan,
To Learning Much Inclined…”
The words of John Godfrey Saxe’s poem resonated deeply in my mind as I mused over what was happening. Senator Obama had just been declared President-elect in the most historic election in the world! I sat quietly watching the big screen at Heathrow Airport, waiting for my connection. Inside I couldn’t help but feel what I believed many people were feeling at the time – a deep inexpressible sense of elation and gratitude at just being alive to witness this day. A son of my tribe, indeed a Luo man had made it to the White House! Somehow it made up for the election they stole from us when they rigged out another Luo son, Raila Amolo Odinga now Prime Minister, in the Kenyan elections held in December last year. Tears streamed freely down my cheeks. An abrupt movement to my left caused me to pause and look. Two white men had come in hopping and panting madly, seemingly wishing to fly if only the space allowed. “ What has happened? Have they announced? Has he won? Is he our President? ”; Rapid fire of urgent questioning to no one in particular. They had just jetted in from a plane and could hardly contain their anxiety. “Obama has won”, I volunteered helpfully, hoping that was the answer they sought.
The ululation that followed would have broken what may have remained of Hillary’s ceiling. Screams of “ Chicago! Yeah! Obama! Obama! Chicago! Yeaaaaaaaaah!” amid clapping, dancing, and shuffling of their feet in that delightful way that only white boys seem to be able to do so well followed, echoing the joy of everyone around. But something else besides the delightful dance struck me. I was transfixed. Chicago? I had to ask. As soon as they sat down, I did. “Well”, they said, “he comes from Chicago! He is ours! Our man is President…. how cool is that”! ; Then more dancing and clapping.
Just then, the news on the big screen turned to events unfolding in my beloved motherland, Kenya. President Kibaki had declared a two-day national holiday in honor of our newly crowned son. In effect, it would actually be a four-day holiday since, after the two days, a weekend would follow. Kenyans generally have a holiday every weekend of the year as most corporate offices shut down on Friday at 5.00pm. Pictures of bulls and chickens being chased for slaughter as droves of people thronged the streets singing songs in praise of Obama followed on the screen. Few watching would understand what they were saying. Stephen Colbert would later refer to it as “praise in metric”. But all would know their meaning just by looking at their faces and the excited rhythmic movements of their bodies. “Our son is President of the United States”!
“Meanwhile in Japan, a town now famous for its name since the US primaries begun this year, a town called Obama was up in flames of excitement and joy untold…” The BBC anchor went on, displaying scenes from all around the world of people who believed they had had a stake in the US election and their stake had won.
“And so these men of Hindustan disputed loud and long
Each in his own opinion exceeding stiff and strong.
Though each was partly in the right and all were in the wrong.”
How true for Elephant Obama, I thought. Thus begun my own analysis of why virtually everyone would believe Obama was more his or hers than any other peoples’. Lets see...
He was born in Hawaii. No doubt the Hawaiians believe their son is well and truly in White House. They have good reason. After all, behind every baby birth there is an umbilical cord and afterbirth buried at the place of that birth. For baby Obama, that place is, indisputably…Hawaii! Officials there would willingly dig them out for anyone challenging the authenticity of his birth certificate, I would imagine. For good measure, his maternal grandfather who served in World War II is buried there!
Now to Japan: for starters, Obama is their name. They even have a town sharing this name with him. It would seem they honored the future advent of a World King and Hope long before Americans even knew they would produce him! It is rumored that during the primaries, whenever Obama won over Hillary, a public holiday was declared the next day in the town. If this is true, they actually had five public holidays in February alone? Wow! Nonetheless, true or not true, Obama is theirs.
When Obama was about five or six years old, his mother moved with him to Indonesia to live with her new husband Lolo Soetoro. At one point the Internet was abuzz with speculation that he may have been classified as an Indonesian citizen for a few years during his childhood. (http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageId=72656). Indeed as a kid in school, he was registered as Barry Soetoro, after his Indonesian stepfather adopted him. Make what you can out of this. Just don’t try telling the Indonesians that he is not their son!
His wife, Michelle Obama, is thought to have descended from slaves brought into the South from West Africa. The Nigerians even started an Obama Nigeria Initiatives (http://www.obamanigeria.org/) to celebrate “the black man and democracy”. Enough said.
Oh! And did you hear the one about his Chinese In-laws? Apparently he has sisters or, (is it one?) married in China. They were definitely bowled over by his win there too. Could this rumor have something to do with it? While you are at it, don't forget Canada; to be precise, his Canadian brother-in-law!
What about England? FactCheck maintains that for a short while after he was born, Obama was a British citizen by the virtue of his father being a citizen of UKC – United Kingdom Colony (http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/does_barack_obama_have_kenyan_citizenship.html).
Still others will argue that Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, was of primarily English and Irish descent, with a bit of Cherokee thrown in. I recently read that someone had traced Obama’s white roots to medieval England and Scotland (their kings no less!) and found his mother was an ancestor of the Duchess of Windsor! (http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur41393.cfm). I will not be surprised to find there are people in England taking this connection very seriously. As for the French, royal England has always been tainted with French blood so one way or another, if he is English then he is very much French…I think.
But the Europeans, traditionally conservative by nature, are not fighting loudly enough to claim their winded ownership. The fact that they gave him record wall-bursting audiences wherever he appeared during his tour a few months ago replete with weeping, nay almost worshipping masses in their hundreds of thousands, (remember the Berlin rally?) quite says enough about their stand. At the time, he was still fighting for the democratic nomination and it would be long before he would win that and go on to become America’s president-elect. They had already recognized and acknowledged him as the world leader. He is definitely their son.
So lets get back to the people with more robustly outlined linkage.
Firstly the Americans as a whole hold that he is American and that’s that. Then you go to Chicago and he is their Senator so they gave him to you first. However, the primarily all-white state of Iowa is credited with being the first to show America the way when it launched his “once unlikely bid” for the White House. Obama himself has publicly praised the state saying, “On the day of the Iowa caucus, my faith in the American people was vindicated and what you started here in Iowa has swept the nation,” (http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/10/31/1623184.aspx). After that follows all the states that primarily voted for him both in the primaries and the election. To all these, he remains their man. However, Kansas where his mother was born and where he was later raised by his recently deceased maternal grandmother, maintains it is his home! He is a son of their soil. In the same vein, the African American population firmly maintain he is theirs. It seems the rest of the world agrees with them on this score. He is constantly referred to as the “first African American president of the United States”.
But the cake would have to be taken by Kenya.
First of all, parts of the country, primarily Kogelo village where his father is a descendant of, and Kisumu the capital of the Luo tribe decided to hold mock US presidential elections in tandem with Uncle Sam’s citizens! (http://english.ntdtv.com/?c=154&a=5784). The argument was that since Obama was a Luo man running for president of the US, that effectively made Kenya a part of the US and so it must carry on with elections like any other state in the US! It was hilarious. There were two large boxes clearly labeled John Mccain and Barack Obama respectively. Any would-be Mccain supporters were cheekily urged not to be afraid since this one would be freely and fairly counted by someone other than the distrusted Kivuitu. Samuel Kivuitu is the controversial boss of the Electoral Commission of Kenya to whom literally everyone blames for the 2007 elections fiasco.
A polling booth was set up at the burnt Ukwala supermarket and voters trooped in as early as 6.30am to cast their ballot. A record voter turnout that would have been the envy of a real election was registered. Voters were promptly issued with slips torn that had been off school exercise books. The instructions were simple. One had to clearly write in the names of their preferred candidate before placing into the box of their choice. It was serious business. One guy got clever. He devised a way of voting twice for John Mccain. Someone noticed. Poor man! He shouldn’t have. An angry mob surged toward him. The trauma from the injustices of last year’s election was still too fresh for anyone to try out something like this. They cracked every bone in his body and walloped his skin right through. It took the intervention of the Kenya Police, using teargas no less, to rescue him from the murderous crowd! At precisely 6pm voting closed and everyone gathered round a TV screen for a nightlong vigil of waiting for both ‘their’ results and those from the “other American states”. Victory screams rent the air when the “Kenyan” results were announced with a not unexpected overwhelming Obama majority, as did they each time a state in America was called for Obama.
But voting aside, Kenya itself, much like the United States as explained above, has its own divisions over where he truly belongs. Specifically, the Luo tribe to which he unarguably belongs is divided almost right down the middle with two villages from opposite sides of Lake victoria pitted against each other. While the people of Kogelo rightly maintain he is a son of Alego Kogelo, Luos from Kanyadhiang’ Kendu Bay say his paternal great grandfather, Obama, moved to their shores from Alego and settled in Kendu Bay.
The area he settled in was renamed Kendu Bay Kogelo reminiscent of Alego Kogelo. Indeed they recently cemented his grave there. (Cementing of a grave is a significant function in the luo community, usually reserved for a person of perceived importance within the context of their family or even the larger community and is usually accompanied by elaborate ceremony during which numerous bulls, goats and chicken are slaughtered in a merrymaking feast).
Moreover, they maintain, both his great grandfather and his grandfather, along with their extended relatives (brothers and cousins) are on record as having married women from various parts of Kendu Bay but especially from the Kanyadhiang area. Therefore he has more than a good measure in quarts of Kendu Bay blood coursing through his veins. Try beating that!
John Stewart summed it up most aptly when he said, “It was as if the whole world had won the Super Bowl!”
Nations aside, on an individual level, claims of Obama linkages abound. Generally everyone here agrees he is a Kenyan from Luoland so we (Kenyans) all naturally feel a part of him – hence the two public holidays by presidential decree. As a matter of fact, nearly all luos will document direct ancestral linkage of their lineage to Obama no matter how distant or convoluted the relationship may sound to the listener. Raila Amolo Odinga himself has claimed a sort of relation based on his mother coming from a village next to Obama’s ancestral home in Alego Kogelo. Obama himself has publicly referred to Raila Odinga as his Uncle. Others though have not been so lucky as to have him acknowledge the authenticity of their claims. Still, it hasn’t stopped any of us.
At last my flight was called. I picked my heavy hand luggage and rushed out. It would be a long way to Terminal 3 from Terminal 1 but nothing would make me late for my flight to America where he, Barack Obama, who is my second cousin third removed (Don’t ask!) through a relation of his grandfather’s (Onyango Hussein Obama) brother by marriage to my Great Aunt, the late Apiyo Osuru from Kanyadhiang, Kendu Bay, and whose late father my brother Barry Marsden Obama is named after, was now President-elect of the United States of America!
To Learning Much Inclined…”
The words of John Godfrey Saxe’s poem resonated deeply in my mind as I mused over what was happening. Senator Obama had just been declared President-elect in the most historic election in the world! I sat quietly watching the big screen at Heathrow Airport, waiting for my connection. Inside I couldn’t help but feel what I believed many people were feeling at the time – a deep inexpressible sense of elation and gratitude at just being alive to witness this day. A son of my tribe, indeed a Luo man had made it to the White House! Somehow it made up for the election they stole from us when they rigged out another Luo son, Raila Amolo Odinga now Prime Minister, in the Kenyan elections held in December last year. Tears streamed freely down my cheeks. An abrupt movement to my left caused me to pause and look. Two white men had come in hopping and panting madly, seemingly wishing to fly if only the space allowed. “ What has happened? Have they announced? Has he won? Is he our President? ”; Rapid fire of urgent questioning to no one in particular. They had just jetted in from a plane and could hardly contain their anxiety. “Obama has won”, I volunteered helpfully, hoping that was the answer they sought.
The ululation that followed would have broken what may have remained of Hillary’s ceiling. Screams of “ Chicago! Yeah! Obama! Obama! Chicago! Yeaaaaaaaaah!” amid clapping, dancing, and shuffling of their feet in that delightful way that only white boys seem to be able to do so well followed, echoing the joy of everyone around. But something else besides the delightful dance struck me. I was transfixed. Chicago? I had to ask. As soon as they sat down, I did. “Well”, they said, “he comes from Chicago! He is ours! Our man is President…. how cool is that”! ; Then more dancing and clapping.
Just then, the news on the big screen turned to events unfolding in my beloved motherland, Kenya. President Kibaki had declared a two-day national holiday in honor of our newly crowned son. In effect, it would actually be a four-day holiday since, after the two days, a weekend would follow. Kenyans generally have a holiday every weekend of the year as most corporate offices shut down on Friday at 5.00pm. Pictures of bulls and chickens being chased for slaughter as droves of people thronged the streets singing songs in praise of Obama followed on the screen. Few watching would understand what they were saying. Stephen Colbert would later refer to it as “praise in metric”. But all would know their meaning just by looking at their faces and the excited rhythmic movements of their bodies. “Our son is President of the United States”!
“Meanwhile in Japan, a town now famous for its name since the US primaries begun this year, a town called Obama was up in flames of excitement and joy untold…” The BBC anchor went on, displaying scenes from all around the world of people who believed they had had a stake in the US election and their stake had won.
“And so these men of Hindustan disputed loud and long
Each in his own opinion exceeding stiff and strong.
Though each was partly in the right and all were in the wrong.”
How true for Elephant Obama, I thought. Thus begun my own analysis of why virtually everyone would believe Obama was more his or hers than any other peoples’. Lets see...
He was born in Hawaii. No doubt the Hawaiians believe their son is well and truly in White House. They have good reason. After all, behind every baby birth there is an umbilical cord and afterbirth buried at the place of that birth. For baby Obama, that place is, indisputably…Hawaii! Officials there would willingly dig them out for anyone challenging the authenticity of his birth certificate, I would imagine. For good measure, his maternal grandfather who served in World War II is buried there!
Now to Japan: for starters, Obama is their name. They even have a town sharing this name with him. It would seem they honored the future advent of a World King and Hope long before Americans even knew they would produce him! It is rumored that during the primaries, whenever Obama won over Hillary, a public holiday was declared the next day in the town. If this is true, they actually had five public holidays in February alone? Wow! Nonetheless, true or not true, Obama is theirs.
When Obama was about five or six years old, his mother moved with him to Indonesia to live with her new husband Lolo Soetoro. At one point the Internet was abuzz with speculation that he may have been classified as an Indonesian citizen for a few years during his childhood. (http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageId=72656). Indeed as a kid in school, he was registered as Barry Soetoro, after his Indonesian stepfather adopted him. Make what you can out of this. Just don’t try telling the Indonesians that he is not their son!
His wife, Michelle Obama, is thought to have descended from slaves brought into the South from West Africa. The Nigerians even started an Obama Nigeria Initiatives (http://www.obamanigeria.org/) to celebrate “the black man and democracy”. Enough said.
Oh! And did you hear the one about his Chinese In-laws? Apparently he has sisters or, (is it one?) married in China. They were definitely bowled over by his win there too. Could this rumor have something to do with it? While you are at it, don't forget Canada; to be precise, his Canadian brother-in-law!
What about England? FactCheck maintains that for a short while after he was born, Obama was a British citizen by the virtue of his father being a citizen of UKC – United Kingdom Colony (http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/does_barack_obama_have_kenyan_citizenship.html).
Still others will argue that Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, was of primarily English and Irish descent, with a bit of Cherokee thrown in. I recently read that someone had traced Obama’s white roots to medieval England and Scotland (their kings no less!) and found his mother was an ancestor of the Duchess of Windsor! (http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur41393.cfm). I will not be surprised to find there are people in England taking this connection very seriously. As for the French, royal England has always been tainted with French blood so one way or another, if he is English then he is very much French…I think.
But the Europeans, traditionally conservative by nature, are not fighting loudly enough to claim their winded ownership. The fact that they gave him record wall-bursting audiences wherever he appeared during his tour a few months ago replete with weeping, nay almost worshipping masses in their hundreds of thousands, (remember the Berlin rally?) quite says enough about their stand. At the time, he was still fighting for the democratic nomination and it would be long before he would win that and go on to become America’s president-elect. They had already recognized and acknowledged him as the world leader. He is definitely their son.
So lets get back to the people with more robustly outlined linkage.
Firstly the Americans as a whole hold that he is American and that’s that. Then you go to Chicago and he is their Senator so they gave him to you first. However, the primarily all-white state of Iowa is credited with being the first to show America the way when it launched his “once unlikely bid” for the White House. Obama himself has publicly praised the state saying, “On the day of the Iowa caucus, my faith in the American people was vindicated and what you started here in Iowa has swept the nation,” (http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/10/31/1623184.aspx). After that follows all the states that primarily voted for him both in the primaries and the election. To all these, he remains their man. However, Kansas where his mother was born and where he was later raised by his recently deceased maternal grandmother, maintains it is his home! He is a son of their soil. In the same vein, the African American population firmly maintain he is theirs. It seems the rest of the world agrees with them on this score. He is constantly referred to as the “first African American president of the United States”.
But the cake would have to be taken by Kenya.
First of all, parts of the country, primarily Kogelo village where his father is a descendant of, and Kisumu the capital of the Luo tribe decided to hold mock US presidential elections in tandem with Uncle Sam’s citizens! (http://english.ntdtv.com/?c=154&a=5784). The argument was that since Obama was a Luo man running for president of the US, that effectively made Kenya a part of the US and so it must carry on with elections like any other state in the US! It was hilarious. There were two large boxes clearly labeled John Mccain and Barack Obama respectively. Any would-be Mccain supporters were cheekily urged not to be afraid since this one would be freely and fairly counted by someone other than the distrusted Kivuitu. Samuel Kivuitu is the controversial boss of the Electoral Commission of Kenya to whom literally everyone blames for the 2007 elections fiasco.
A polling booth was set up at the burnt Ukwala supermarket and voters trooped in as early as 6.30am to cast their ballot. A record voter turnout that would have been the envy of a real election was registered. Voters were promptly issued with slips torn that had been off school exercise books. The instructions were simple. One had to clearly write in the names of their preferred candidate before placing into the box of their choice. It was serious business. One guy got clever. He devised a way of voting twice for John Mccain. Someone noticed. Poor man! He shouldn’t have. An angry mob surged toward him. The trauma from the injustices of last year’s election was still too fresh for anyone to try out something like this. They cracked every bone in his body and walloped his skin right through. It took the intervention of the Kenya Police, using teargas no less, to rescue him from the murderous crowd! At precisely 6pm voting closed and everyone gathered round a TV screen for a nightlong vigil of waiting for both ‘their’ results and those from the “other American states”. Victory screams rent the air when the “Kenyan” results were announced with a not unexpected overwhelming Obama majority, as did they each time a state in America was called for Obama.
But voting aside, Kenya itself, much like the United States as explained above, has its own divisions over where he truly belongs. Specifically, the Luo tribe to which he unarguably belongs is divided almost right down the middle with two villages from opposite sides of Lake victoria pitted against each other. While the people of Kogelo rightly maintain he is a son of Alego Kogelo, Luos from Kanyadhiang’ Kendu Bay say his paternal great grandfather, Obama, moved to their shores from Alego and settled in Kendu Bay.
The area he settled in was renamed Kendu Bay Kogelo reminiscent of Alego Kogelo. Indeed they recently cemented his grave there. (Cementing of a grave is a significant function in the luo community, usually reserved for a person of perceived importance within the context of their family or even the larger community and is usually accompanied by elaborate ceremony during which numerous bulls, goats and chicken are slaughtered in a merrymaking feast).
Moreover, they maintain, both his great grandfather and his grandfather, along with their extended relatives (brothers and cousins) are on record as having married women from various parts of Kendu Bay but especially from the Kanyadhiang area. Therefore he has more than a good measure in quarts of Kendu Bay blood coursing through his veins. Try beating that!
John Stewart summed it up most aptly when he said, “It was as if the whole world had won the Super Bowl!”
Nations aside, on an individual level, claims of Obama linkages abound. Generally everyone here agrees he is a Kenyan from Luoland so we (Kenyans) all naturally feel a part of him – hence the two public holidays by presidential decree. As a matter of fact, nearly all luos will document direct ancestral linkage of their lineage to Obama no matter how distant or convoluted the relationship may sound to the listener. Raila Amolo Odinga himself has claimed a sort of relation based on his mother coming from a village next to Obama’s ancestral home in Alego Kogelo. Obama himself has publicly referred to Raila Odinga as his Uncle. Others though have not been so lucky as to have him acknowledge the authenticity of their claims. Still, it hasn’t stopped any of us.
At last my flight was called. I picked my heavy hand luggage and rushed out. It would be a long way to Terminal 3 from Terminal 1 but nothing would make me late for my flight to America where he, Barack Obama, who is my second cousin third removed (Don’t ask!) through a relation of his grandfather’s (Onyango Hussein Obama) brother by marriage to my Great Aunt, the late Apiyo Osuru from Kanyadhiang, Kendu Bay, and whose late father my brother Barry Marsden Obama is named after, was now President-elect of the United States of America!
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