How 3 Kenyan Ladies Seized The Obama Visit To Etch Their Names In The Books Of History

POTUS came, gave us hope with his out-of-this-world oratory skills, promised us goodies from the world  superpower and promised to return as soon as possible.

 

I believe TV was watched in Kenya like never before. We were all excited and this morning, the Obama blues are still taking toll of us. The Obama fever is still eating into our beings despite the disruption the most powerful man on earth brought about.

And as we all wanted to identify with the leader of the free world in one way or the other, there are three women (if I am allowed to call them so) who stole the show during the Obama visit, and are likely to go down the books of history as having directly interacted with the US leader.

Joan Wamaitha

The 8-year old little angel may not know what was happening over the weekend but some day she will reap from this (if Kenya does not become hostile to her). Joan Wamaitha, who has been rumoured to be orphaned and hails from Mariakani, was at hand to welcome POTUS at the airport when he disembarked from Air Force One on Friday night. She was arguably the very first person to share a word with the most powerful man on earth. She handed him a bouquet of flowers as Obama requested for a photo with her.

What does it feel like when you are the very first Kenyan to welcome a sitting US President into Kenya for the first time in history? Great/out of the world/exciting/gut-wrenching (delete as appropriate).

Yes, Joan Wamaitha did just that. She may not understand what she did but some years to come, when she is grown enough and sees these photos and the videos, she will be a hot property.

Julie Gichuru

The TV queen was trending on Saturday after she embraced her African character as she took to the podium at the UN headquarters to welcome the US President and Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta.

Julie was so privileged to be the woman picked to welcome Obama and Uhuru to the stage to officially open the Global Entrepreneurship Summit at Gigiri.

She stole the show further when she ululated, embracing the character of a real African woman, much to the consternation of the gathering at Gigiri. She has since been lauded for the manner in which she did her thing although critics argue that she overdid the whole thing and looked like an excited school girl.

All in all, Julie had her moment and she is likely to have her name etched in the books of history.

Dr. Auma Obama

This is the woman who acquired celebrity status in just a minute, or so. That warm hug, the embrace, the peck from the most powerful man on earth, all cast Auma into the limelight. For those who did not know her before they were surprised who was this lady hugging Obama as he disembarked from Air Force One.

And then… she was seen settling in the back seat of the Beast, the safest car on earth that carries Obama around town. It has never happened before. That another unauthorized person gets into the Beast with Obama? Never before.

But Lord… Auma was here. Receiving the favour in return of what she did 29 years ago. Tenda wema nenda zako mpaji atakujali.

And then Auma was all over the place. She stepped where Obama did. Ate what Obama ate. Breathed the same air Obama breathed. All the good things.

And to climax everything, she introduced her half-brother at Kasarani, something that should have been done by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

What a lucky woman