Word: luo
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...their own countries, which have been marred by opacity, vote-rigging and tribal politics. There has been widespread violence in the aftermath of Kenya's Dec. 27 poll, with the country split along tribal lines. Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times recently reported that members of Obama's Luo ethnic group are supporting him, while rival Kikuyus are vociferously backing Clinton. "People do stand back and are a bit agog about the competitiveness and openness of American politics," says Ross Herbert, a research fellow at the South African Institute for International Affairs. "In most of Africa people are chosen...
December's election saw incumbent President Mwai Kibaki, who belongs to the Kikuyu tribe, defeat opposition leader Raila Odinga, a Luo, in a contest that opposition supporters said was rigged. Kenyans, who often vote along tribal lines, then found themselves caught in ethnic clashes marked by swinging machetes, soaring stones and flying arrows that have left hundreds dead. Hospitals and morgues saw instance after instance of victims with arrows lodged in their heads and chests. A peace deal was struck Thursday between Kibaki and Odinga, establishing a coalition government. But some Kenyans fear the violence is not yet over, blaming...
...Obamas live about an hour's drive - first on potholed asphalt roads then on a rutted dirt track into the village of Kogelo - from the city of Kisumu, the center of opposition support, standing on the shores of Lake Victoria. The population here is Luo, arch-rivals of President Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe. Angry mobs torched shops, bars and garages belonging to Kikuyu businessmen and forced their families to board buses for their tribal homelands in Central Kenya. In spite of the apparent political breakthrough in the capital Nairobi, the anger remains even if the mobs have been called...
Every street corner in Kogelo hosts a political debate. It usually starts with a discussion of Kenya's crisis before moving on quickly to the chances of a Luo son moving into the White House. Maurice Kogode is the chairman of the grandly named Central Square Consultation Forum, which meets beneath a vast jacaranda tree. He says Obama's message of hope and change designed for voters in America also offers inspiration to young Kenyans. "Too many politicians here have an egocentric mind and they just won't give in," says Kogode. "They protect their own interests, not the majority...
...windfall if Obama's momentum carries him all the way to America's highest office. "What we hope is that with his Kenyan and Africa roots we will see some of the fruits of his power, like electricity, water and a new road," she says simply in her native Luo language...