Singing and dancing, the ancestral village of Barack Obama celebrated on Wednesday the re-election of the son of their soil, who won because he knows how to “love all people”, his grandmother said.
Crowds stayed up throughout the night in Kogelo, a small village in western Kenya nestled in the hills about 60 kilometres from the blue waters of Lake Victoria, until the results showed Obama had won.
“The reason why he has won is because God has given it to him,” said Sarah Obama, 90 this year and the third wife of the paternal grandfather of the president, who has said he regards her as a grandmother.
“Secondly he has got the knowledge to love all people, he doesn’t have the knowledge of division, that is why he has won,” she added, speaking in the Luo language to reporters on the lawn outside the family home.
Weary from an all-night vigil but happy at the win, people cheered to welcome her – known popularly as “Mama Sarah” – and in support of the victory.