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A Family Fest in Kenya

Obama's Granny Celebrates Victory

By Horand Knaup in Kogelo, Kenya

America isn't the only place with a new hero. Kongelo, a small village deep in the heart of western Kenya also feted a famous son on Wednesday. The election festivities for Barack Obama's relatives included slaughtering an ox.

The news arrived at the village square in Kogela, deep in western Kenia, at 7:03 a.m. local time. CNN had just called the election for Barack Obama. Dozens of people -- some of whom had stayed up the entire night -- suddenly embraced each other, waving freshly cut wooden branches and dancing. A band began playing.

All across Kenya, people wanted to be a part of the victory. President Mwai Kibaki called for a national holiday on Thursday, and his vice president claimed, unabashedly, that he had already had a telephone conversation with Obama. Lucky for him, no one could verify whether he was telling the truth.

One kilometer away, Obama's 86-year-old grandmother Sarah Obama spontaneously left her home. She had been following the election since early morning on TV, completely engrossed by the results pouring in. She was tired, but she still wanted to share her joy. Accompanied by her clan, she walked through the gate to her home. She beamed through her dignified, wrinkly face and, despite knee problems, began doing a small dance of delight for the international cameras. She then took a short break before talking to journalists and answering their questions.

As dozens of villagers who had made their way to Obama's grandmother's house erupted into a chorus of jubilation, an ox was slaughtered on the property next door. Earlier in the morning, the ox, hitched to a tree, had looked on, bemused, as the media frenzy escalated.

"I am very, very pleased," Sarah Obama said, "for me, for us, for the whole world." No she said, she hadn't yet had the chance to speak to Barack Obama. And no, she doesn't know when he will come for a visit. And, she said, she will continue to live her life exactly as she has up until now. "We're doing well -- why would we want to change our lives?" she asked.

Amidst the jubilation, one of the few to keep her composure along with Sarah Obama was Barack Obama's half sister Auma, who tried to put the brakes on the euphoria that had swept through parts of the family and the entire village. "Barack already made clear when he was here in 2006 that he considers himself to be an American and not a Kenyan," she said. "Of course we support him, but we also have no expectations. And if there are overly high expectations in Kenya now, then they are really just attributable to all the enthusiasm." She added, in German, no less, "I'm a little tired, but I am very, very happy."

The district administration also understood that it was their task to pay tribute to the famous son. On Wednesday morning, workers began using large equipment to prepare the street in front of Obama's grandmother's house. And as journalists waited for the press conference to begin, workers from the state electricity company began drilling deep holes in the wet ground so that they could lay long-promised electricity cables.

After all, should the US President-elect ever decide to return to his roots, they certainly don't want to leave the impression that the village where his family lives is an undeveloped one.