Obama’s Little-Known Kenyan Political Connection

VIOLENCE FUELED BY OBAMA COUSIN’S DEFEAT

by Sharon Rondeau

(Feb. 10, 2010) — On January 1, 2008, CNN ran a story which began, “Gangs of young men armed with machetes are roaming the streets in Kenya as post-election violence threatens to engulf the country. Horrific attacks are being reported, including the torching of a church where people who had sought refuge were burned alive.” The Mail & Guardian reported that at least 300 people were killed and 70,000 displaced from that one incident alone.

The article went on to report that the violence erupted over the December 27, 2007 election results between the incumbent president, Mwai Kibaki, and rival Raila Odinga, with Kibaki being declared the winner by a slim margin. What the story did not report was that Odinga had claimed to be the cousin of Barack Obama, who was running for the U.S. presidency.

Also not reported was that Obama had campaigned for Odinga in a visit to Kenya in 2006. Having traveled to several African countries on a “fact-finding mission,” according to the Canada Free Press, “Obama consistently appeared at the side of fellow Luo Raila Odinga (“your agent for change’), who was running for President” at that time. In fact, Obama was so outspoken against the Kibaki administration that he became considered an unwelcome meddler in Kenyan political affairs. His visit there ended with a public rebuke in which a government spokesman stated, “It is now clear that he was speaking out of ignorance and does not understand Kenyan politics; we earlier thought he was mature in his assessment of Kenyan and African politics.”

After the election, the torching and burning of civilians inside Christian churches escalated to some 1500 deaths and over 500,000 Kenyans displaced. Moreover, reports surfaced shortly after the violence broke out that it was planned in advance. The acting Africa director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) went on the record as saying, “We have evidence that (opposition) ODM politicians and local leaders actively fomented some post-election violence.”

Odinga was the ODM, or Orange Democratic Movement, candidate for President. Educated in communist East Germany, his history includes subsidized Saudi Arabian oil deals when he was Energy Minister as well as ties to Muammar Qaddafi’s regime, which gave him political support. As part of his campaign platform, Odinga opposed the arrest of those suspected of being Al Qaeda sympathizers. His position struck a chord with Kenyan Islamics who opposed the policies of the U.S. and Israel.  According to The Christian Post, Odinga had promised to institute Sharia law in “total disregard of the Constitutionally guaranteed rights of freedom of worship and equal protection of the law for all Kenyans.”

While Obama has reportedly denied that he and Odinga are cousins, Obama lent strong support to Odinga during his campaign against Kibaki. According to WorldNetDaily, Obama had “designated a personal aide as his direct contact for the 2007 Kenyan presidential campaign of Raila Odinga, who later was appointed prime minister after his election loss was followed by widespread, deadly violence…” Reportedly, emails between Obama and Odinga were obtained by WorldNetDaily’s Jerome Corsi “by an insider in Kenya who fled Odinga’s Orange Democratic political party and requested anonymity because of the danger of retaliation.”

Currently, as Prime Minister of Kenya, Odinga is being pressured to fight corruption within his own office by firing those individuals “who have been implicated in a multi-billion shilling maize scandal.”