Of Obama and the Rainmakers

On a highway along Lake Victoria in Kenya, there are two signs barely twenty metres apart competing for attention. One reads, “Obama” and the other, “Lake Simbi Nyaima”. Both signs are named for roads in honour of the US president and a mythical lake respectively. Around these signs people gather to gossip, talk politics and about the current happenings. But when the would-be US President visits the village, the talks take quite an unexpected turn. There develops a link between the current US president and the mythical lake, apart from the fact that the road signs in their honour are close and branch from the same highway. This connecting link has never been told elsewhere, except in this book. Of Obama and the Rainmakers is a commonality between the US and Africa, myth and history that quickly metamorphose into politics, dialogue, jest, love stories and a cry. And then there is the Obama speech that is yet to be read anywhere, and certainly will not be read in Africa.