Kenyans have done much to prepare for President Obama’s visit, from planting grass to painting murals bearing his likeness. The trip has been a major source of pride for many, in part, because Obama will be the first sitting American president to visit the country.
Kenyans are also eager to host a man they see as one of their own. One of the first things Obama will see when he lands in Kenya on Friday will be a billboard outside of the Nairobi airport that reads, “Welcome Home, Mr. President.” referencing the fact that his father was Kenyan.
Obama’s familial roots to the country may have also added pressure to a short visit by making those who feel connected to him take especially bold moves to express their frustrations. People across the country have promised a slew of unique ways to get Obama to address — or to keep quiet about — about the many of these.
Here’s a round-up of some of the more outrageous plans Kenyans have been working up ahead of Obama’s visit.
Urination and Suicide
A group of 31 female students threatened to urinate on a tree the president planted at their university on his visit to Kenya as a Senator in 2006 if Obama neglected to visit their campus.
According to a letter Babu Owino, the head of the student union, sent to American Ambassador to Kenya Robert Godec, male students would take even more dire action.
“Male students will do worse,” he reportedly wrote. “This will be catastrophic, calamitous and cataclysmic. God forbid.”
That “catastrophic” refers to a threat that eighteen male students at the University of Nairobi would to commit suicide if Obama did not visit their university.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta dismissed the letter by Owino as nonsensical, but invited the student leader to the Statehouse to discuss issues affecting the University.
Naked Protesters and Rotten Eggs
Many anti-gay activists and officials across Kenya have voiced concerned that Obama might address their country’s criminalization of homosexuality, even though the White House has not yet specifically raised the issue.
When asked if Obama would bring up LGBT rights while in Kenya, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said on Monday, “Obviously, we have been clear that when the president travels around the world, he does not hesitate to raise concerns about human rights.”
At least the 5,000 protesters who planned to take to the streets of Nairobi in the buff to show Obama “the differen[ce] between a man and [a] woman,” has been cancelled after an assurance from President Kenyatta and Obama would not discuss gay rights.
In a separate effort, a council of elders promised to respond more directly to Obama should he bring up gay rights.
“I will mobilize and lead every member of the council, including women and the youth, and Kenyans in general to throw rotten eggs at Obama if he dares introduce the gay and lesbian debate,” a member of the head of a council of elders recently said. A Marriage Proposal
Ours will be a simple life. I will teach Malia how to milk a cow.
While Obama will be traveling alone on his trip to Kenya, at least one Nairobi resident is likely wishing that he’d bring his family along. Felix Kiprono, a lawyer, told a Kenyan newspaper that he’s got a serious interest in Obama’s daughter, Malia.
“I got interested in her in 2008,” he said. “As a matter of fact, I haven’t dated anyone since and promise to be faithful to her. I have shared this with my family and they are willing to help me raise the bride price.”
Kirpono hopes to win the 17-year-old first daughter’s hand with 50 cows, 70 sheep, and 30 goats.
His plans don’t end there.
“I will propose to her on a popular hill in Bureti near my father’s land where leaders and warriors are usually crowned,” he said.
“Ours will be a simple life,” Kiprono added. “I will teach Malia how to milk a cow” and cook traditional Kenyan food.
For Obama, the connection to Kenya will not be one he can fully engage in as president. He won’t be visiting the village his father was born in, and bemoaned the fact that he won’t be leaving Nairobi at all.
“I’ll be honest with you, visiting Kenya as a private citizen is probably more meaningful to me than visiting as president, because I can actually get outside of a hotel room or a conference center,” Obama said at a press conference last week.