People Of The World,

I send you greetings from my 10th great grandfather Ragem, who like Karua asks you to stitch on the burton of your imagination. lets roll.

During the recently concluded Beijing Olympic Marathon races we saw an athlete lead through and through, leaving the chase pack 800m to 5K behind, then they won. Now imagine how it would feel if after leading the race through and through, like Kenya’s Samuel Wanjiru did, you entered the stadium and found the competitor you thought you left behind at mile 23, finishing his victory lap before you. This is what happened to our very own Catherine Ndereba. She did not received the rousing welcome as she entered the ‘Birds Nest.’  As she raised her head seeking answers why the rousing welcome was absent, she realized her terrible mistake. Constantina Tomescu was finishing her race. Ndereba had dropped a little behind as the lead pack had surged on. She used her stamina and endurance to catch up with them and then accelerated to leave them behind. In accelerating she used one of her secret strategy – hold your head down and maintain the fast pace until all the challengers fall behind, or so she thought..

As a sportsman, I did not feel sorry for Ndereba, because in all fairness, she made a mistake and price by getting silver instead of gold. I also know she has won many marathons for herself and Kenya for which we are very proud.

However this is what happened to Raila, but unlike Ndereba’s situation, there was no challenger in the stadium when he entered, and indeed he received the thunderous welcome. Instead of getting the gold medal, it was given to Kibaki who was over 500K votes behind and Raila had to fight to even get the silver medal. To this day, I feel sorry and ashamed for Raila and as a Kenyan respectively, because I did not do enough to ensure safe elections and prevent the violence and the chaos that followed.

The depression that followed was massive exacerbated by the killings that followed, first by police, then by civilian against civilian. For weeks, I and many of my friends in either side of the divide were depressed. Some have not yet recovered from this. I learnt a lesson I will never forget and which I want to apply to the current affairs.

The US election campaigns are in high gear, and my 10th great grandfather Ragem, alludes to me that the number of Africans and People Of The World who are naturing an Obama presidency is almost 100%. I am unashamedly one of them, but here I would like you to turn on the button of your imagination.

Obama’s hereditary linage can be traced to my 5th great grandfather Mumbe, but I am not saying it. Therefore my 10th great has a right to predict that Obama will defeat McCain hands down. However, we will not know the US 2008 presidential election winner with certainty in more than 5 weeks, perhaps because of KYVUITu or Kentucky, Virginia, Utah, Indiana & Tennessee. Floridians like Kalenjins will vote right since they do not make the same mistake twice.

I am certain you have dismissed these prediction as silly. But let us for a moment just imagine it is Nov 4th at 11:00pm and there is no projection of a winner. How will your emotions do?

My 10th predicted right that the winner of Kenya’s 2007 elections would not be known outright. He was right. If I believed in the possibility, I would have been prepared for what followed. The experience we went through as Kenyans, and if we can believe in the possibility of an Obama loss even with 1% certainty, we’ll be able to live through 4 more years of the McCain & Palin.

Obama say’s in his website: “I am asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring change in Washington…. I am asking you to believe in yours”. Do you? If you do, but do nothing to help, will you have the patience the endurance and the stamina to wait 4 more years to do it?

All things being equal, I believe in my ability to bring about change by voting McCain and the Republicans out and I have the courage to ask you on behalf of Barack. However, politics is not religion and is said to be a dirty game. I have seen what McCain, Palin and the Republicans can do, while like Gandhi or MLK, Obama tries to play clean politics. Some of us choose not to see Bill O’Reily and hide in the comfort of Keith Olbermann. Do not be fooled, like Okondo or Okoth Otura, both are extreme and yes, they may be related if you notice what I do.

Unless we begin to act as requested by those emails Obama-Biden campaign keep sending to us regarding making calls, forwarding emails, canvasing and registering voters, we may sit around the TV one evening and see our candidate’s victory slip away from our fingertips.

I am certain by now you have activate the button of your imagination, and can see this happening. The good thing is that you can still do something, unlike the Kenya situation whereby we could not vote. You can also do nothing, and in this case activate the button of your imagination and visualize McCain giving his victory speech.

The next morning you will be required to report to work, and I am sure you will feel just fine. Perhaps you can also decide to be non aligned, and when the result finally come, you will feel fine. Just fine because you will wisely be prepared and avoid what temporarily halted Raila juggernaut. 

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By the way, have you booked your mother or grandmother an air ticket to accompany Mama Sarah Obama as she comes to witness her grandson’s inauguration in January 20th 2009? If not, je huu ni ungwana? Kumwacha Bibi asafiri maili elfu lela u lela peke yake! If you are seriously considering my proposal, send me a note. Here is a place you can buy inauguration tickets. http://www.inauguraltickets.com/

—
Joram Ragem
wuod Ndinya, wuod Onam, wuod Amolo, wuod Owuoth, wuod Oganyo, wuod Mumbe, wuod Odongo, wuod Olwande, wuod Adhaya, wuod Ojuodhi, wuod Ragem! (Are you my relative?)

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Date:  Tue, 16 Sep 2008 23:01:10 -0400
From:  Joram Ragem
Subject:  President McCain? Switch On The Burton Of Your Imagination & Act.