Kogelo attracts ‘wonder-baby’ tourism

By Mangoa Mosota

Jackie Adams*** gyrated her curvy hips in a sexy motion that resembled a fertility dance. The young woman from New York was among the multi-racial throng that celebrated Barack Obama’s inauguration at Kogelo village in Siaya.

The 30-year-old tourist had more on her mind than the change of guard at her country’s highest office many thousands of kilometres away.

A day before Obama was declared the winner of the presidential election on November 4 last year, the communications consultant met a man on a visit to Kogelo who could change her life in significant ways. Her new boyfriend is an accountant in Kisumu and like Obama’s father, hails from Siaya.

She barely slept for the days she operated the business. "Haya ni mahajabu. Sijawahi fahamu kuwa biashara ya mkahawa ni nzuri hivyo. Ni siku gani tena tutakuwa na watu wengi (This is a miracle. I never knew that the restaurant business was this good. When will we again witness an event with so many visitors)?" she exclaims.

Odhiambo, a mother of five, sells vegetables at the nearby Nyangoma market and now plans to set up a proper restaurant.

The businesswoman says she recruited two casuals to assist in running the brisk business, and over 300 guests including foreigners were served.

When the face of Sarah Obama, the president’s grandmother, appeared on the screen in Kogelo the crowd went wild.

In Kogelo and Kisumu, the US flag was aflutter everywhere, with bicycle taxi operators sporting miniature flags on their machines.

Women ululated and screamed when Obama rose to make his inaugural speech. "Huyu ni kijana wetu. Tuko na furaha tele (This is our son. We are overwhelmed with happiness)," said an elderly woman.

Her words were drowned by deafening screams when Obama mentioned the "small village where my father was born."

Some tourists, sporting T-shorts emblazoned with Obama’s name, seemed even more elated than locals, and many watched as they danced animatedly.

At one point, there was near disaster as some who claimed to be more conversant with matters tried to sing the US national anthem along with Obama. After mumbling a few inaudible words, they gave up.

Familiar faces

On the giant TV screens, viewers were able to identify local people present at the US Capitol, including Obama’s ‘granny’ Sarah, brother Malik and stepmother Kezia.

Strenuous demands to the organisers to have the faces of Kenyan ministers such as Anyang’ Nyong’o and Moses Wetangula appear on screen.

Not surprisingly, the organisers were unable to oblige.

The ministers attended the inauguration without official invitation. As a result they might probably have followed the proceedings from their hotel rooms.

In the wee hours of the inauguration day, word went round that some striking teachers from Siaya were planning to disrupt the celebrations.

Police lined the roads leading to the village to ensure the event was not disrupted.

A local comedy group, Big Tyme Comedians, staged a mock inauguration in Kisumu.

The man selected to be an Obama look-alike, Joseph Orwa, caused a stir when residents caught a glimpse of him, so closely did he resemble the President. Some people were fooled.

"Huyu ni Obama mwenyewe. Amekuja kutoka America (This is Obama himself come from the US)," a woman told another as they joined the crowd following the convoy.

During the US Presidential election on November 4, the comedians organised a mock election in Kisumu.

In the polls, Obama overwhelming beat his rival, Republican John McCain

At the Jomo Kenyatta Sports Ground, an elderly man argued that Obama, the 44th President of the US, has achieved godly status.

"It is God, Jesus Christ, Obama and then the Pope. It is obvious that Obama is more powerful than the Pope," Jameck Otieno blasphemed.

In many a house in Kisumu pictures of Obama and his wife Michelle have been pinned on walls, some using thorns.

Meanwhile, Kogelo, which not long ago was a sleepy village that few beyond the locality had heard about, has witnessed an astonishing transformation over the last two months.

Electricity was supplied in less than a week after Obama won the US poll.

Roads in the village have been rehabilitated and a Sh5 million water project is being implemented in earnest.

The vigour with which various Government departments are working to bring basic amenities to the area has demonstrated that Vision 2030 is not a pipedream.

All this has prompted a local sage to conclude: "If another Kenyan village hopes to see this kind of transformations, it must thrive to produce a president for South Africa or a Prime Minister for Britain."

Towards this end, tourism of the kind lately witnessed in Kisumu and Kogelo would not hurt.

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