By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City
PANICKING and anxiety has gripped the home of Kenyan relative of the US President Barrack Obama after a local daily newspaper made a startling speculative report that the Obama’s 21 year old marriage is headed to the rock.
THE PEOPLE, a Kenyan daily whose ownership is closely associate with the family business flagship of President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday this week devoted the whole page with the banner headline “Is Obama’s glamorous marriage ending soon?
The speculative article is well illustrated with series of photographs showing the Obamas in an unusual gloomy mood during couple recent trip to South Africa for the burial of the country icon Nelson Mandela, a clear sign that President and Mrs. Obama are no longer reading from the same script.
In one of the picture had a caption showing highly agitated Mrs Obama yelles at her husband in an animated chat with blonde Danish Prime Minister, Helle Thorning Schmidt during the burial of Mandela in South Africa.
Another interesting photo is showing President Obama engrossed on his smart mobile phone as unimpressed Michelle looks away and unconcerned.
The original report appeared to have been written by a US based journalist based In Washington D.C. a Mr Tom Leonard. A visit made by this writer to the Obamas family home in Alego Nyang’oma Kogelo in Kenya’s Siaya County about 50 kilometers west of Kisumu City found the grim faced family members gathering in small groups and carrying the copies of Monday edition of the PEOPLE while discussing the issue in low tones.
Although the Obamas have yet to visit Kenya their ancestral home where the President’s, father the late Barrack Obama senior, is buried, the couple are very popular with Kenyan people of all shades of life. Many people in this region are known to be most proud of the Obamas.
And even President Obama’s eldest step brother Malik Abong’o Obama who is a businessman-cum-politician could not offer any comment. Everybody is tight lipped including the usually flamboyant step-grand mother of the US President, the 90 year old Mrs Sarah Obama. The news appeared to have hit the family like the Tsunami.
The newspaper article opened with the following phrases citing the family invitation to guests for the Michelle”s 50th birthday. The invitation email message says in part ”guests to snack.sip and dancing, but advised the guests to wear comfortable shoes and practice their dance moves.”
“ Purse-lipped Washington etiquette, but it says experts were baffled at the informality of it all.” The Obamas have always been keen to appear accessible even if the stand offers vitality is somewhat different.
The report extensively quoted the US based newspaper, The National Enquirer. It adds that the Obamas are the world’s most scrutinized couple at the best of times, but was rare to find guests at the bash who did not secretly watch them with particular interests. After all,
the last time they were photographed together at the Nelsom Mandela memorial-The First Lady was looking none too pleased as the husband posed for for photographs with the leggy blonde Danish Primier Helle Thorning Schmidt.
ENDS