Muirani; Odinga, Leave Obama Alone!
Posted by njoro on January 10, 2008
The Langata MP-elect, Raila Odinga and former ODM presidential candidate is on record as having said that, Sen. Barack Hussein Obama, a hopeful Democratic Party nominee in the forth coming US presidential elections in November, Raila Odinga’s cousin.
Odinga I do not doubt that you are cousins with Sen. Obama but I would like to question the timing of you announcing that Sen. Obama did visited Kenya and we never heard from you or hear any rumour to that effect. Nobody likes to be associated with a loser and all of us would like to be on the wining side, but this time around you are wrong Odinga.
In the African context, if one claims to be a relative of so and so is easily understood but i would like to bring into attention why Odinga’s claim on Sen. Obama may have negative effects or may affect Sen. Obama’s nomination as the democratic party
presidential candidate and the first African-American president in US history.
First and foremost, Illinois, Senator Obama is a first time federal senator and is giving the former first lady and New York senator, Hilary Rodham Clinton a run for her money. Sen. Clinton is a house hold name in the whole world because she was the wife of former president, Bill Clinton. Odinga’s name is well known in Kenya because he is the son of the former doyen of opposition, the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.
Sen. Obama by virtue of being an African- American is disadvantageous due to his colour and also in a country whereby its “white” dominated. If today Sen. Obama emerges as the Democratic Party nominee, all arsenals will be opened right from time he was born
and etc. Already there have been claims that he has a Muslim name (Hussein) just like Saddam Hussein. He went to Madrass (Islamic school) in Indonesia. Others claim that its hard to pronounce Obama since its almost similar to Osama.
With Odinga coming with the claim that he is related to Sen. Obama, will just give the over biased US media with more negative materials to damage Sen. Obama’s chances of making history. The media will go through Odinga’s history and finds that, his father was a communist and him too might have those political leanings, he was involved in the failed 1982 coup, his brother-in-law, Otieno Ambala was implicated in the killing of then Gem MP-elect, Horace Owiti Ongili and now he is one the main players in the current on-going political impasse in Kenya.
In Kenya we go tribal but in US it is even more damaging because they go “below the belt”. Odinga being a presidential material as you have portrayed to Kenyan people and the world, you could have being more wise and weigh your pronouncement because all those factors which I have raised could be used against Sen. Obama.
Please don’t drag Sen. Obama’s name because both of you are involved in two totally
different fights. You can borrow a leaf from ODM’s William Rongana Ole Ntimama, “lie low like an envelop”-as far as Sen. Obama is concerned.
Githuku Wa Muirani.
January 10, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Muiriani, I think your words in this column does more harm than good to the very person you are trying to defend.
It looks like you are still buried in the politics of yesterday. Allow me to highlight a few things you erred on either by omission or commission. You are clearly not qualified to speak about Senator Obama.
First of all, the press has long had a field day with some of the negative propaganda you have decided to bring forth.
In his book, “Dreams From My Father, A Story of Race and Inheritance”, Obama volunteered all the information about himself long before he announced his candidacy. For your sake, I will quote directly from his book.
His father Barack Hussein Obama Snr was a non-practising Muslim and at the time of his death, was a self proclaimed atheist.
He moved to Indonesia with his newly married mum and his non-practising muslim stepfather at around the age of 6 till the age of about 10. It was also at the age of 6 that he wrote an essay about wanting to be president when he grew up. He attended an all inclusive International School that had students from all denominations eg christians, muslims, jews, atheist etc. He never attended any MADRASS.
He does not consider black as being a disadvantage at all. Does Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton consider it a disadvantage being a female candidate? At this point and time, Obama has appealed more to the white folks than he has to the black folks. He finished first in Iowa and retained a respectable second in New Hampshire. Why do I say this? In her book “Salon”, Debra Dickerson (African American) wrote of Obama’s political rise “Lumping us all together, erases the significance of slavery and continuing racism while giving the appearance of progress”
Reviewer Michael Tomasky writes “… it does show Obama’s potential to construct a new politics that is progressive but grounded in civic traditions that speak to a wider range of Americans”. An Italian, German and Spanish translations have been published.
Obama has also appeared in the October article of the British journal, New Statesman, listed as one of “10 people who could change the world.
Obama is also taking Europe by storm according to the book “Barack Obama - The Black Kennedy” by German author, Christoph Von Marschall.
Expressing puzzlement over whether he is black enough, Obama told an August 2007 meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists that the debate is not about his physical appearance or his record on issues of concern to black voters - “What it lays bear is that we are still locked in this notion that if you appeal to white folks, then something is wrong!”
Majority of Obama’s endorsements, other than Oprah Winfrey (who is accused of appealing to the whites), are whites with the latest one from former presidential nominee, John Kerry who thinks that Obama’s politics is one of inclusion. Bear in mind that John Edwards, another democrat candidate, was John Kerry’s running mate in 2004!
He is also the first top tier African American or an African and American if you wish, who has a decent shot at the presidency and was given the Secret Service security 18 months to the elections.
Mr. Muriani, this is not the place to rubbish someone of Obama’s caliber. As a fellow Kenyan, you should be proud of our great son.
Check out Olengais blog on the invite to join the Barack Obama campaign!
Cindy
London
July 15, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Hi, I just wanted to make a response to the previous commenter Cindy. I agree with you 100%. I am an Obama supporter and I am Afro-american. I wish that people will leave Sen. Obama alone. He has never been a Muslim and he has plenty of white supporters all over the USA. I go to his campaign website and many white supporters donate a lot of money to his campaign. I also get sick and tired of the so-called Black leaders who claim that since Sen Obama does not have any slave ancestry, he is not “black enough”. Bulls#$t!!!! Any thinking person who is well read on world history knows that most of Black Africa was under European colonialism and that the Europeans treated the black africans very badly, similar to slaves.I have never been to Africa, but I am well read and educated and know that Kenya used to be a former British colony. The British treated the Kenyans very badly before the Kenyans got their independence. I am sure that Mr. Obama had no choice in the circumstances that he was born into. He did not ask to be born of mixed parentage. He did not ask to be born of a white American mother and a black Kenyan father. Those ignorant Black people criticizing Obama are nothing more than a bunch of jealous, hateful Uncle toms!!! Sorry I had to get this off of my chest, Peace!
July 17, 2008 at 12:49 am
Amen Sharon!