Resident's of K'ogelo village, Siaya County where 44th US President Barrack Obama's father, Barrack Hussein Obama Sr. hails from, have issued new demands on the proposed Barrack Obama University which has been in the pipeline for over seven years.
With Obama expected to jet into the country for a one-day visit on July 16, the local community called on the government and all stakeholders involved in the project to ensure the institution's Main Campus was in Nyangoma which is quite close to Obama's ancestral home.
Vitalis Ondewe, a community leader who was hosted by Obama in Washington DC in 2005, revealed that there were attempts to take the campus out of K'ogelo but remained adamant that the headquarters and main campus must be in the Katuda area of Nyangoma.
He noted that despite the project receiving a lot of public support, all they had to show for it was a sign board at the Siaya Agricultural Training Institute in Siaya town.
"The community has never been involved. We only see the sign board whenever we visit Siaya town," Ondewe disclosed.
[caption caption="Barrack Obama with President Uhuru Kenyatta on a visit to Kenya in 2015"]
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He appealed to the Ministry of Education and the Siaya County Government to ensure the local community was part of deliberations on the proposed institution.
"We are appealing to our son, Barrack and the government to step in and have the facility in our midst and other campuses elsewhere," Ondewe stated.
Ondewe's statement comes barely three weeks after Siaya Governor Cornell Rasanga announced that 24 acres had been set aside for construction of the university.
Rasanga explained that the university would offer programmes meant to deal with challenges that affect 14 counties in the Lake Basin region while still maintaing a 21st century outlook.
“When I recently visited Harvard University and the mention of Obama’s name elicited a lot of anxiety hence the need to kick off the project earnestly,” he added.
[caption caption="Barrack Obama in Nairobi in 1987"]
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