Kogelo is a small village in Western Kenya, near the shore of Lake Victoria, where its residents gathered four years ago to keep vigil and to pray for the first ever victory for a black president, in the US. However, no one knows whether election night in Kogelo will feature the same big screen, where hundreds of foreign reporters sat alongside the villagers in the pouring rain last time.
The locals are expected to gather near local landmarks such as the President High School, the Barack restaurant and the Obama Hotel. There are few complaints elsewhere in Kenya and more broadly across in Africa that an Obama presidency has failed to deliver much for them. However, the area where the vigil will be held is not so poor now as it was four years ago.
In the meantime most Kenyans now know much better that American politics has nothing to do with their country. They hope that Obama will visit Kenya if he gets a second term and that may console them. — S.H. Moulana, Riyadh
