By Aislinn Laing, Nairobi
Friday, July 24, 2015
George Obama, the president's half-brother Photo: EPA
Barack Obama’s brother George has told of the disappointment of the US president’s Kenyan family that he will not be returning to his ancestral home.
George Obama, the president’s half-brother, said there had been considerable excitement in the rural village of Kogelo, where their father hailed from, when it was announced Mr Obama was returning to Kenya.
However, despite the promise of home-cooked food and a warm welcome, the US Embassy confirmed Mr Obama would remain in the capital during his two-day trip.
George Obama, who has not seen his sibling since his last visit in 2006, said the news had been greeted with dismay.
“The villagers are complaining because they had hoped to see him but he’s on a tight schedule,” he told The Telegraph.
“I think he’s coming for some government stuff. It will be nice if he gets to see relatives. They were hoping that he would meet them.”
Mr Obama’s grandmother Sarah has been flown to the capital and it is thought she will visit the president at his hotel, along with other family members.
George Obama said he hoped he would be among those invited, so he could talk to the president about the challenges facing Kenya’s youth, a subject close to both their hearts.
Mr Obama set up the Young African Leaders Initiative in 2010. His brother runs a foundation supporting children from impoverished backgrounds in the run-down town of Huruma on the outskirts of Nairobi.
“Some of our children don’t have school uniforms, others don’t have school fees, basic stuff, books and so on, that’s what we try and organise for them to the best of our ability so they can have an education,” he said.
“The children are the future of the country. We try to show them the right way so that when it’s their time to take over, they make it better.
“So we do a similar thing. It’s just on a different scale.”
Nairobi has gone into security lockdown ahead of Mr Obama’s arrival tonight, with roads closed and police and soldiers on virtually every street corner.
The city has also been festooned with American and Kenyan flags, billboards welcoming the US president “home” and murals of his famous face on the sides of buildings. Nairobi’s governor has even optimistically planted fresh grass seed in pavements of red mud.
Mr Obama said dismissed the measures as “cosmetic”. “It’s a smokescreen. They are just pleasing him. When he goes it’s just going to return to normal. We are living a lie. When he is gone, who’s going to take care of it?” he said.