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World
Obama’s half-brother runs for governor in Kenya
Japan Times
Mar 3, 2013
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NAIROBI – A politician named Obama who is running for governor in Kenya can boast of one big claim to fame: blood relations with the president of the United States.
Malik Obama — a half-brother of Barack Obama — is running in Kenya’s elections Monday, though he is not sure what impact his relationship to the U.S. president has had on his campaign.
“I’m going into it as Malik Obama,” he said in a phone interview from western Kenya. “I can’t run away from my name and association with my brother, but I have the feeling that people somewhat want to see who the brother of Obama is.”
The president’s relative even invokes the message that Barack Obama leaned on during his groundbreaking 2008 political campaign: change. The Kenyan says his election platform focuses on poverty eradication, infrastructure development and industrialization.
“I hope that you all out there will support me and vote for me for this important position so that we can bring change to the county of Siaya,” Obama said at a recent campaign stop.
Kenyans on Monday will cast ballots for a wide range of regional offices, but the most crucial vote is for president.
Monday’s election will also be the first nationwide vote since the 2007 vote devolved into massive tribal violence that killed more than 1,000 people and displaced 600,000.
The 54-year-old Obama hopes to become the first governor of the western county of Siaya. He is running as an independent. In 2010, Kenya’s new constitution created 47 new political divisions known as counties, to be headed by governors.
Obama is competing against candidates from well-funded parties, and the political newcomer — this is his first run for office — appears in need of campaign cash. He asked an AP cameraman for a contribution, but it was not given. Obama said he was asking for the individual, rather than AP, to contribute.
Barack Obama’s father was from Kenya, and he has several relatives in the country. He shares the same father as Malik Obama, but they have different mothers.
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