Imagine the impossible: Obama the president of Kenya!

The way we celebrated Obama during his recent and only visit reminds me a lot of Kenya’s style.

The euphoria came with pride and sense of unity and identity. The Kenyan achievement, very much reminiscing the excitement that comes with victory when David Rudisha and Kemboi win their race or break the record.

It is very different when the dust settles. Then we start asking the actual Kenyan question; Is that a Kalenjin dude… ?

Obama is a lucky dude. Distance shortened and protected by our television screens, we love him to be there; the POTUS, and indeed celebrate in the same way as our athletes, sportsmen and of course Lupita. But we also clearly know Obama would stand no chance of being the president of the republic of Kenya, or PORK.

In escaping the confines of ethnicity where even the foreskin popularised by David Kuria pre- disqualifies a person potential, he has achieved a lot in his personal journey and for his country. He has also made us be aware of the potential we have as a people and as a country.

Obama needed the environment that recognised, acknowledged  and nurtured his talent, intelligence and potentials. As ordinary as he is, and black (despite mother being white) he rose to become the president of the most powerful nation on earth!

Imagine, a Kenyan Obama campaigning to be Kenyan president. I would like to imagine the obstacles. Since he is a Luo with mzungu mother, he would not be Luo enough. Besides, he would be expected to support ‘Baba’ and give him full allegiance, or face the wrath of politicians and wananchi from Nyanza.

He would never bother to look for votes in central! The ethnicity would seal the deal.

Indeed his orator skills, academic prowess and the pleasant person he is would still not count because he would not be from any of the three or four elite families where all our presidents will continue coming from.

So no matter what we do, as long as we continue being divided along ethnic lines, fighting over non-issues, having wrong priorities, trading moral values for money…the best presidents this country should have had will continue living among us as ordinary citizens and shall continue celebrating ‘our people’ changing the world away from us.