President Obama Can't Save Kenya

Never in history have more people from all over the world watched a presidential race as they did this one. Much of the sensation was because it was the first time it was likely that an African American would be elected president of a country whose foreign policy affects every country in the world. But a whole lot of it was because Obama has direct roots in the African continent, specifically Kenya. There, millions will be waiting for President Obama to offer a timeline for fixing the Kenyan economy.

What Kenyans expect of Obama is based on the mere fact that his father was from Kenya, which, according to our traditions, makes the president-elect a Kenyan. Because Kenyans abroad are expected to help their less fortunate relatives, many expect President Obama to help them. They have mistaken his quest to understand his roots and the relationship he has kept with his father's family to mean that he has accepted that responsibility.

This belief that President Obama will arrive from America as if from heaven to end our miseries also stems from the way we Kenyans have been trained to view our leaders.

Traditionally, a president was seen as an omnipotent figure one whose word is law.

Past Kenyan presidents have also tended to favor their tribesmen and cronies. When Jomo Kenyatta became the independent country's first president in 1963, he filled government jobs with people from his tribe. Kenyatta also poured more development funds into the infrastructure of his home area near Mount Kenya than any other region in the country.

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