Tourism officials in Kenya are to spend 1m shillings (£6,694) to spruce up the grave of Barack Obama’s father ahead of the US president’s visit to the country in July, it was reported on Friday.
Barack Hussein Obama Sr was born in western Kenya in 1936 and was killed there in a car accident in 1982. This will be his son’s fourth trip to the east African nation overall but his first since becoming president.
It is not yet clear whether Obama will return to his ancestral roots in Kogelo, a remote village in Siaya county that is home to his nonagenarian step-grandmother Sarah, but it appears local politicians are taking no chances.
His father’s grave there will receive much-needed maintenance. Charles Akello, tourism chief executive in Siaya, told Kenya’s Star newspaper that the money will also cover the restoration of Obama’s grandfather’s grave “that is just next to that of his father”.
He was quoted as saying: “We shall also put up a visitor’s park in Kogelo, where Mama Sarah [Obama’s step-grandmother] will receive her visitors. Remember, these plans were mooted long ago, before we even had information that the US president would be visiting the country.”
Even if Obama does not come to Kogelo during his visit to Kenya, Akello added, the tourism department will continue with maintenance works to ensure the village becomes a tourist attraction.
The county’s chief officer for tourism, Joseph Ogutu, told the Star there are also plans for a rugby tournament, marathon, tourism expo and cultural festival ahead of Obama’s visit. “These activities will help promote and market tourism in the county, showcasing tourism sites like Kanyaboli, among others,” he said.
The Kenyan government has said it is too early to know Obama’s schedule in the country. He is due to attend the annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi but it is not certain whether he will address parliament. James Orengo, a senator, reportedly said: “The government should take steps to officially invite President Obama because, the way things are, he may not even visit State House.”
Obama’s first trip to Kenya was in 1987, when he traced his father’s life story in a quest chronicled in his memoir, Dreams from My Father.
He returned as a senator in 2006 and stopped for a few moments at his father’s grave near what reports at the time described as a collection of small buildings, towering mango trees and assorted dogs and chickens. “Any time a child comes back to a parent’s grave, it makes you reflect on your mortality and the next generation,” he said.
It also emerged this week that Felix Kiprono, a lawyer in Nairobi, has offered 50 cows, 70 sheep and 30 goats for Obama’s daughter Malia’s hand in marriage. “People might say I am after the family’s money, which is not the case,” he told the Nairobian newspaper. “My love is real.”
