OBAMANIA – A COUNTRY GOES INTO OVERDRIVE WITH OBAMA HOMECOMING

President Barrack Obama is coming to Kenya.

I am not American.  I am not political by any means, but I am glued to the TV as live coverage is happening on a local station (in Swahili) as we wait for the President of the United States to arrive.  Whether you are an Obama fan or not, surely you have to agree that he has a certain charisma about him, he can hold your attention and I am going to admit I am a little excited about him coming and all the hype that is following his visit.  I’ve never been much of an Obama fan prior to now, never followed the man, I don’t even know what political party he represents, but with all the hype of his arrival, a lot of coverage on his past speeches, I think I am now a fan.  This is not based on his political views, his policies or his government.  It is solely based on the man capturing an audience with his eloquence, his inspirational words and personality.  The Kenyan coverage is a little shaky, inexperience I’m guessing, but it is not killing my vibe.  We have just seen Uhuru now heading to the airport with his TWENTY SIX car envoy on what is an empty Mombasa Road, it really is just mind boggling, it’s actually a ‘moment’, a moment in history that we just may not see again, and even if another US President does come to Kenya, it just won’t be the same as Barack Obama coming back to where his father was born and family still resides.  It just won’t be the same.  The Pope is coming to Kenya in November this year and I don’t think he will get the same welcome, not that he will be any less welcome, but I am sure he won’t require so many bells and whistles. 

The trip to Kenya is Obama's first since becoming president, and likely his last visit to Africa as a world leader.  It has been tagged as the ‘homecoming’, but Obama was not born here and he has only been here once before, in recent times, as a Chicago Senator in 2006. But his father was born here and he still has a grandmother (a mother from one of Obama’s Dad’s 6 wives family), step brothers, uncles and aunts, some of which he had never met before.  Obama famously traced his family's roots in his 1995 memoir, "Dreams From My Father." His father, Barack Obama, Sr., was born and raised in Kenya. He lived in the United States in the 1950s and 60s, and ultimately returned to his home country, where he died in a car accident in 1982.  So the media has labeled the trip ‘homecoming’.  There has been so much media coverage, social media coverage and people ‘who know people’ chat over the last 4 weeks, some of the things quite comical and unbelievable at times.  It really has been a lead up to what they call the “most important man in the world” coming to Kenya.  Obama’s three-day (it’s really a night, a full day Saturday and an afternoon departure on Sunday) visit will mark a historic moment in Kenya’s 52-year-old history, as it marks the first time that a sitting US President will be visiting the country on an official State visit.  President Barack Obama is making his first trip to his father's native Kenya as president.  Obama is here for bilateral meetings and the 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Summit, an annual conference that connects entrepreneurs with business leaders, international organizations, and governments.  This will be the President's fourth trip to Sub-Saharan Africa with his last trip in December 2013 for the funeral of Nelson Mandela. He also traveled to Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania during summer 2013 for a series of events on the United States' commitment to African economic growth, democratic institutions and young leadership development. 

They should have just declared today a public holiday.  A lot of people left town to avoid all the chaos, with tour operators calling it an Obamigration (pretty clever).  With the last week in the lead up to tonight’s arrival of the President of the United States, there were notifications of what roads would be closed, literally shutting down a capital city of around 4 million people, yes picture that.  FOUR MILLION people, who are told to avoid 3 of the biggest, busiest and most used roads, of course the city shuts down.  The road closures started at 2pm, so most businesses sent all their employees home at lunch time.  Banks closed, schools told their children to not come in today, people had to cancel classes due to lack of people wanting to take their chances with road closures and that is just the major things that come to mind.  The streets of the Kenyan capital were empty this afternoon which is usually the busiest time of the week with streets jammed with cars.  There was a massive security operation under way to protect Mr. Obama after his arrival.  Parts of city were in lock down and the airspace will be closed during the president's arrival late tonight and his departure late Sunday.  My question is why doesn’t he just fly in a helicopter to everywhere he is going?  Maybe it is more is a security risk with a bird in the sky, more of a target?  It has been said it is costing the US Government over 300 MILLION US DOLLARS to bring POTUS (the President of the United States) on this trip, and that is not taking into account what the Kenyan Government is spending from its side.  It really is mind boggling that one man can cause all this fuss and I do believe he is the ONLY man that would command this much attention.  I have had American friends within the embassy under lots of different roles working A LOT of hours the last 4 weeks (and more) as they prepare to get everything in order for the visit, they are tired and are just waiting for the big man to leave Kenya safe and sound on Sunday.  He then becomes Ethiopia’s warden and we can breathe a sigh of relief.   

The last week has seen the streets getting a facelift, with Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero in a hurry to plant flowers on the road from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to the city centre.  Nairobi County officials insisted the timing of city’s beautification efforts and Obama's visit were not necessarily related. The environment minister, Evans Ondieki, said the projects are part of the county government’s development of city infrastructure plan, which has a budget of about $1.8 million or 182.5 million Kenyan shilling. Nairobi will host several high-profile events this year, with a cancer conference this month, the pope’s visit in November and a World Health Organization meeting in December.  Renovations had commenced weeks ago in various parts of the city, notably the 15km stretch between Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and the Central Business District.  Trash has been collected from the city's major streets, replaced with hastily-planted flowers and the filling of potholes, sweeping of streets, the repainting of faded road markings and laying new pavements on once muddy-sidewalks.  Some 2,000 trees were also planted, alongside the flowers and other road maintenance.  Billboards bearing portraits of President Uhuru Kenyatta, President Obama and Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero were also erected.  More than 1000 National Youth Service members were hired to tidy up Nairobi, unclogging drains, clearing bushes and cutting grass on major roads and around government buildings. Families living on the streets used by Obama’s entourage will also be relocated, as a network of closed-circuit security cameras get installed.  Even though Obama will not visit the village of Kogelo, where his father was born and where his relatives still reside, the impoverished community received electricity and the paving of its only road, and had also embarked on a clean-up campaign of its own.  It was funny to be driving around town and seeing an army (literally groups of 50+) of people with Duracoat paint smocks on repainting the walkways, new flag poles with US and Kenyan flags have been erected, even pot plants are now lining UN Avenue with the plants looking like they have just come from someone’s garden and the sales stickers still on the pots.  It is a little crazy that we do this all for one man, when we should want to always want to keep our city clean and tidy and it seems a little extravagant on the spending of millions of shillings when there are thousands of people that go without food and water every day.  So that is probably one of the downsides of the visit, that, and the shutting down a city for 3 days affecting business and the economy, which will cost a small fortune to the country.

Meanwhile, Obama’s security teams have been busy since April.  At least eight U.S. marine helicopters have touched down in Kenya, with more armored cars landing at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.  Three military choppers were spotted at the Wilson Airport and it is thought that there are at least 10,000 police officers, roughly a quarter of the entire national force, that have been deployed to the capital.  Obama’s Presidential Escort from JKIA will be well guided with secret service agents well equipped sniffer dogs that are part of the security team and 30-50 US cars carrying US delegates accompanying president Obama.  It is also believed that the Kenya Police Unit will deploy its officers, GSU, the Recce Squad and Military officers to assist in security matters.  The armored cars are said to be from the American Embassy in South Africa while the helicopters are from the US military base at Manda Bay.  It was funny to note that Obama’s ‘BEAST’ was seen fueling up at a local gas station a few days ago was quite a spectacle for the local people who saw it and the next day a great meme was online that the nozzle that filled the POTUS BEAST was for sale on Jumia.  No-one can say that Kenyans don’t have a sense of humor.  Sources close to plans for Obama's arrival say at least 800 Secret Service Agents and 2,000 Kenya police will guard him while he is here.  Obama's itinerary is still a guarded secret, but he is expected to hold meetings with his host President Uhuru Kenyatta, address Parliament and meet with opposition and civil society leaders.  There was a lot of talk on what hotel he would be staying at, noting the new cameras that were being erected around the roads near the UN.  There were also warnings from phone providers that there would be network disruptions over the week-end and possible loss of phone signal depending on the movement of the big guy.

The country hopes Obama's visit will stir its tourism industry, which has fallen 25 percent in the first half of 2015 in part due to negative publicity arising from terrorist attacks, notably the April attack on Garissa University College, which killed at least 147 people. The attack has shaken an important element of Kenya's economy.  For now, it is the hoteliers smiling all the way to the bank, as they’ve recorded full bookings between July 24 and 27, when the summit will be running.  Assuming the trip goes well, I personally am hoping that the world sees that it IS safe to come back to Kenya and enjoy what we have to offer here and more travel warnings will be scaled down.  Many Kenyans are anticipating big changes when the American president leaves.  That his coming will help the economy, it will help tourism and it will help security.  News that Obama was coming, lifted Kenyans, who are hoping his visit will reassure tourists and lead to improved security and numbers again returning to Kenya.

It's a vote of confidence for our city and our country that is for sure.

I’m unashamedly now an Obama fan.  Love me, hate me, I don’t care.

Obamania has hit the Mugo household.