How excited was Kenya when Barack Obama won the election in November? So excited that Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki declared the day a national holiday. So it's no surprise that yesterday's inauguration was a nationwide event in the East African country.
Crowds gathered from small mountain villages to the capital city Nairobi to watch the inauguration, breaking out in wild cheers when Obama began his address. In the village of Kogelo, the birthplace of Obama's father, the inauguration was the culmination of a day of feasting, dancing and even an exhibition soccer game by the local team, the President Obama FC. A large-screen TV was set up in the field outside the Pres. Obama Primary School so the citizens of Kogelo could watch the event (yes, they really have embraced their native son).
Parties continued across Kenya after the inauguration ended. "Nobody will sleep today. We are all spending the night here. I can't sleep when our son is taking over such a powerful office," said Mariam Oyuka, 67, a resident of Kogelo who has met Barack Obama during visits to his ancestral hometown.
Meanwhile Barack Obama was sworn in again today. If you watched the inauguration you might have noticed Chief Justice John Roberts blowing his part of giving the oath of office to Obama (Obama even paused so Roberts could correct himself - now considering the oath is in the Constitution and Roberts is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, it's a little disturbing that he got the oath wrong, but anyway...). Apparently this little faux pas caused some conspiracy theorists out on the Internets, well conspiracy buffs and, according to MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, Fox News, to say that maybe Barack Obama wasn't really the president. So just to put the rumors to rest the two quietly redid the oath again today at the White House.
3 days ago
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