Obama and Kenya

Front matter

Contested Histories and the Politics of

Belonging ©

Ohio University Research in International Studies

Part Ii: Contested Histories And The Politics Of Belonging

CHAPTER 4 The Politics of Condemnation: The American Right’s Reactions to Obama’s Roots in Kenya 73 CHAPTER 5 The Politics of Celebration: Ethnic Grandeur and Obama’s Heroic Embrace 96 CHAPTER 6 Political Violence and History at the Ballot Box 116

CHAPTER 7 Obama for Africa or Africa for Obama? 142

Epilogue Tuko Pamoja: We Are Together 157

Notes 169

Glossary 217

Index 237 viii | Contents

Maps

Figures 1.1.

4.1-2.

Illustrations

Kenya Western Kenya

Kenyan critique of Obamamania from East African cartoonist GADO, 2008

US president Teddy Roosevelt with his “trophy” elephant in Meru, Kenya, 1909

First delegates conference of the new Luo Union (East Africa), 1953

Ofafa Memorial Hall, Kisumu

Public condemnations of the Obama-Kenya connection in the United States

“Congratulations Barack Obama” leso (wrap) Senator Obama Kogelo Secondary School Members of Luo Council of Elders, 2009

Luo Council of Elders chairman Riaga Ogallo with LCE members, June 18, 2009

African merchants selling Obama wares in Djenné, Mali, and Accra, Ghana

President Obama in Senegal and Michelle Obama in Tanzania, 2013

Main building of Kogelo Village Resort and a local business at main trading center, May 2013 President Obama at Safaricom Indoor Arena in Nairobi, Kenya, July 26, 2015 ix xix

Acknowledgments

Scholarship is often a solitary, even lonely, endeavor, but in writing this book we are fortunate to have been inspired by our shared passions for Kenya and its history and to benefit from each other's approaches to and support in writing and editing.

Kate extends her heartfelt thanks to Matt for his unstinting enthusiasm for and faith in this project. One could not hope for a better collaborator and friend. Matt shares Kate’s thoughts and knows that without her shared critique and insight, this book would not have been possible.

While only two names appear on the cover of this book, many colleagues and friends deserve special thanks for their long-term support for an idea born out of casual conversations more than a decade ago.

Our former PhD advisers, John Hanson and David William Cohen, deserve special thanks for their thoughtful critiques and continued professional and personal support long after graduation. The foundational scholarship on Luo history and identity produced by E. S. Atieno Odhiambo and David William Cohen was never far from our minds when writing this book. Their many years of collaboration and friendship serve as a model and inspiration for us. Matt would also like to thank his longtime mentor and friend Don Wright. With origins in his lowly undergraduate years, Don’s encouragement and model he set as a teacher and scholar continues to drive Matt’s work today.

During our initial dissertation fieldwork year together, Dan Branch, Nic Cheeseman, Gabrielle Lynch, and Gez McCann provided great breaks xi from the archives and a collaborative scholarly community. Their own excellent work informs this book in many ways.

A number of scholars and colleagues from around the world read drafts and provided important critiques along the way. Derek Peterson, David William Cohen, and Frederick Cooper all provided important insights on Kenya and all things colonial as well as judicious advice and warm encouragement as this book took shape. Bruce Berman enthusiastically supported our vision at a key moment. Brett Shadle, Paul Ocobock, Julie MacArthur, Nate Plageman, Liz McMahon, Hannington Ochwada, Jim Brennan, Caterina Pizzagoni, and many others helped flesh out ideas and shape this book through lively discussions and with their own scholarship and supportive friendship. Many thanks go to Gillian Berchowitz, who supported our project from its inception, and to Ohio University Press. We would also like to thank the anonymous reviewer whose careful, astute critiques and imaginative suggestions helped us to refine the project even further.

In Kenya, the staff at the Kenya National Archives (KNA) have been incredibly accommodating and resourceful over the years. Richard Ambani, Peterson Kithuka, and Evanson Kiiru always make the KNA search room a welcoming space and lend their expertise and passion for research to scholars from around the world. In Western Kenya, Martin Adero Metho and Amos Odhiambo helped with early interviews. Atieno Adala was Matt’s first Dholuo teacher and welcomed us into both her family home and her family history. Henry Adera deserves special mention for his long-term dedication to this project. From archival research to oral interviews, Henry is a formidable researcher himself and provided key advice and support with translation and analysis while bouncing around Nyanza in our little Maruti.

Our students and colleagues at St. Lawrence and Northeastern provided important support in the halls and classrooms. Ryan Deuel and Bill Johnson helped us flesh out some important ideas in concise and accessible ways. The staff at the St. Lawrence Kenya Semester program made Nairobi a home-away-from-home and continues to produce some of our greatest student critics. St. Lawrence GIS staff Carol Cady and Dakota Casserly produced the maps for this book, and St. Lawrence student, now alumna, Emma Burr created key images.

xii | Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the several institutions that have directly supported our research. Our dissertation research was funded by Fulbright-Hays fellowships. We have also been supported by our home departments and institutions. Fellowships at the Cambridge University Centre for Research in the Social Sciences and Humanities, the Princeton University Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies, and the Library of Congress John W. Kluge Center provided time away from teaching and collegial venues in which to write. Special thanks go to Professor Philip Nord at the Davis Center and Mary Lou Reker at the Kluge. We are also grateful to the audiences at the Harvard University Weatherhead African Studies Seminar and to the Boston University African Studies seminar for their feedback on early iterations of this project.

Finally, without our families none of this would have been possible. Our parents have always been supportive of our work, no matter how far it took us from home. Without their dedication to us to follow our passions in life, Kenya would have remained merely an idea in our minds. Jolene (Mama Ethan), believed in this project from the beginning, allowed us the space to conduct research, and shared many of our experiences at home and abroad. Without her support Matt would never have been able to keep up, and he attributes his continued professional and personal growth to her support and dedication to their family. And a special thanks to Ethan, whose birth and early years grounded our scholarly focus. He always welcomed Daddy home with a hug and games after long hours of research and writing, putting what is most important in life into perspective.

For Kate this project has been both a pleasure and a lifeline in difficult years. Marie Luongo and Mary Ann Jordan deserve special thanks for their selfless support and generous compassion that made life possible in too many ways to count. Peter Luongo and Sharon Luongo Naioti have also been important sources of support. Ann Terry and Meghann Terry Kirk were ever only a text message away and provided invaluable help and necessary levity at key moments over two years. John and Elise Glynn made their home Kate's home in every way at a critical time; she is grateful that it remains so. In both New York and France, Frederick Cooper and Jane Burbank have provided much-needed cheer, kind support, and excellent cooking. Nahomi Ichino, Nina Sylvanus, Tim Brown, Donna McKean,

Acknowledgments | xiii

Diane Damphousse, Sana Aiyar, and Priya Lal have each been present at important moments and in important ways. Carol-Ann Farkas, Charissa Threat, and Lane Summers have truly been Kate’s “sisters.”

With the historical roots of this project dating back more than a decade, we have said good-bye to some dear friends and family throughout this journey. We continue to draw inspiration from their legacy and in part dedicate this book to their memory.

xiv | Acknowledgments

LLC LUTATCO MDC

Abbreviations

African Union

Church Missionary Society

Coalition for Reform and Democracy district commissioner

Electoral Commission of Kenya Forum for the Restoration of Democracy Gikuyu, Embu, and Meru Association Global Entrepreneurship Summit Imperial British East Africa Company International Criminal Court internally displaced person

Kenya African Democratic Union Kenya African National Union

King’s African Rifles

Kenya African Union

Kikuyu Central Association

Kenya National Archives—Nairobi Kenya People’s Union

Kenya shilling (the national currency) Luo Council of Elders

Liberal Democratic Party

Luo Language Committee

Luo Thrift and Trading Corporation Movement for Democratic Change

MOU MP NAMLEF NARC NDP ODM

PC

PNU RIAT UNDP UNESCO

YKA memorandum of understanding

member of Parliament

National Muslim Leaders Forum

National Rainbow Coalition

National Development Party

Orange Democratic Movement

provincial commissioner

Party of National Unity

Ramogi Institute of Advanced Technology

United Nations Development Programme

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization

Young Kavirondo Association xvi | Abbreviations

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st ARMIeI Y :T061-9681

SOS6I SOV6I SOC6T SOC6I SOT6I s0061 S068T SO88T

‘yuoptsoid

SN st pa}oejaer st If eureqo yoeeg :z1oz Sa E

“ILUS SN I} 0} PIAP st eweqo PLIeg Hoor

ETHIOPIA SUDAN

LAKE TURKANA

CONGO, DRC SOMALIA

RWANDA

Mwanza

BURUNDI

TANZANIA

Cl Country Boundary

\\ —— Roads = ——> Railroad

Nile

Lakes \

Map 1. Kenya (St. Lawrence University GIS Program: Carol Cady, Dakota Casserly, and Sean Gannon, 2015).

Q) a Oo NYANZA p JN 2 f Kakamega ‘a $ m Saa j A / uy Maseno j Ramogi Hill Jh

SIAYA y \ a i Bondo E ‘ Asembo -> f aS Sn WINAM GULF a w \4 (KAVIRONDO) j —- LAKE VICTORIA j # Rusinga Island 4 \ ) bz 2 HOMA BAY Nyamira lf LSE NYAMIRA £ 3 Kisii $ t KISII X ) A > ee j~ y \ 4 i %* — County Capital `~ \ = Country Boundary \ p> Former Nyanza \ _._.._| Province Boundary L] County Boundary Roads TANZANIA t Railroad Q 10 20 km l — f Lakes 0 0 20 mi

Map 2. Western Kenya (St. Lawrence University GIS Program: Carol Cady, Dakota Casserly, and Sean Gannon, 2015).