Habiba, the missing link in Obama family

Somewhere in sleepy Kosele village in Karachuonyo, Homa Bay County, lies an unmarked grave of Habiba Akumu, the mother of Barack Obama Sr.

It is Habiba who appears carrying a child on the cover of President Obama’s book, Dreams from My Father.

Habiba was Mzee Hussein Onyango Obama’s second wife and the unsung heroine who is hardly mentioned when stories about great Kenyan families are written.

Obama’s great grandfather, Opiyo Obama, moved to Kanyadhiang’ village near Kendu Bay, from Kogelo in Alego, Siaya County. He settled on a large chunk of land stretching along River Awach, which runs through Karachuonyo all the way to Lake Victoria. The choice of his settlement was interesting because of the rolling slope running parallel to the river.

The entire family, with their extended relatives, apparently still stay in Kanyadhiang’ village, except Mzee Hussein Onyango, the father of Barack Obama Sr, who returned to Kogelo in the 1940s.

The larger Obama family remained in Kanyadhiang’, where it’s known as K’Obama, meaning ‘Obama’s home.’ It is said that Onyango Obama’s return to Kogelo was prompted by the fact that he had just come back from World War II, and was therefore more exposed and outspoken compared to the ordinary villagers in Kanyadhiang’.

He had interacted with the white man and could even speak smatterings of English. With this advantage, he became a ‘threat ‘ to the local villagers who, despite his asset of being exposed, still saw him as an immigrant who had no rights to compete for any position of leadership in Karachuonyo.

In a fit of annoyance, he opted to return to his ancestral Kogelo and settle there.

—Correspondent