By Silas Gesiora
About Barack Obama Jnr coming home.
I love and deeply admire Obama as a person. He is the most eloquent man of our generation.
His personal accomplishments are worthy being envied.
What he achieved for America given the circumstances is commendable.
His visit to Kenya as the first US president a few years ago, gave Jubilee some legitimacy and he even endorsed a dictator in Ethiopia, proving the age-old truism that America cares less for Democracy outside America. Whether it is Trump in power or Obama.
Often,I watch George Bush Snr receiving Mobutu Sseseko in White House in 1988 and calling him America’s “good friend”.
But for Obama, I love him because he has generally lived a life of integrity, stood firm for his beliefs, laughed when he had to, cried when he had to.
Funny that he is our son, and if he was in Kenya, he will have to a Raila sycophant or will be forced to be one of those ‘non-political’ Luo civil servants but his talents will never be harnessed enough.
America is a different country. Everyone has a chance. Not so in Kenya. Here, your tribe, race, social class, name it, will always hold you back.
Think of the many footballers from your primary school days who would have excelled but now are just boda boda riders.
Often I watch Music and Drama Festivals. Where do the winners go?
There were so many talented people who fell through the many cracks in our system and it makes you wanna cry.
Obama is our son. We should celebrate him in every way and his every visit should be a blessing.
He may not do much. But it is a reminder to fix our systems. A child in Marsabit needs as much chance as a child in Nyeri. The best we can do is to invest in the future of our children.
