Posted on: Sunday, October 3, 2004
Obama popular in his father's homeland
By Ron Staton
Associated Press
U.S. Senate candidate Barack Obama is a big man in Kenya, his late father's homeland, and the Kenyan people are following his political career very closely, according to marathon runner Mbarak Hussein.
"People there relate to him. He has a big following in Kenya," said Hussein, who spent June and July in his native country. "People there are following the U.S. presidential election, and then Obama's race."
The Illinois Democrat, whose white mother was from Kansas, "has a big influence back home," Hussein said during a weeklong goodwill visit to Honolulu to talk to school children and run with high school and college cross country teams. He is a three-time winner of the Honolulu Marathon and will return to run that race for the 10th time on Dec. 12.
As an April Fool's joke, a newspaper in Kenya published a story that Honolulu-born Obama was coming to visit his father's home village, Hussein said. "People turned out in big numbers because they thought it was true," he said.
While Hussein is from the Nandi tribe known for its runners, Obama's father was from the neighboring Luo tribe near Lake Victoria known for its politicians, Hussein said.
The Luo tribesmen are very smart people, he said. "They are one of the most educated groups in Kenya.
"Obama will be a role model for a lot of young people in Kenya," Hussein said.
The marathon runner, who now lives in Albuquerque, N.M., said he has never met Obama. "But I would love to meet him," he said. "I'm a big fan of his. He has a great future in politics."
During his visit, Hussein spoke by telephone to Obama's sister, who lives in Honolulu, but was unable to meet her in person.
While speaking to students and running with the cross-country team at Punahou School — the private school from which Obama graduated in 1979 — Hussein was shown where Obama signed his name in wet cement during his high school days.
"I had to take a picture of that," Hussein said.
