The world waits
An unprecedented security operation has been launched in and around Washington DC as Barack Obama takes the oath of office as the first American black President in less than 24 hours.
President-elect Obama, the son of a Kenyan father who has charmed the world to his side, will have waited 77 days since he won the US presidential election to move to the White House and start a job that makes him the world’s most powerful man.
The US Homeland Security Department says that, although there is no credible threat of an attack, it is prepared for a wide range of potential catastrophes, including a chemical weapon attack.
The Secret Service, responsible for protecting the president, is overseeing the security preparations. Director Mark Sullivan, a 25-year veteran, says Tuesday’s inauguration is the biggest event he has been part of.
About 4,000 city police officers will be deployed along with 4,000 from 96 other law enforcement agencies across the country. Members of the Secret Service, FBI and Capitol Police will also be on duty. A total of 32,000 military personnel will be on duty or on stand-by.
Security measures include intensified patrols of the skies over the capital and rivers bordering the city, closing bridges and sealing off a large area to vehicles.
The Secret Service has unveiled a state-of-the-art armoured presidential limousine that Obama will use during his presidency. Its design is a closely guarded secret, but it is most likely resistant to bomb and chemical attacks.
Every one of the hundreds of thousands of people expected to pack the inaugural parade route between the White House and Capitol Hill will be subjected to security screening, as will the 240,000 people attending the swearing-in ceremony.
Items banned from the parade route include bicycles, animals, backpacks and coolers. Firearms, ammunition and explosives are also not allowed. Umbrellas will also not be permitted in ticketed areas.
Mama Sarah Obama, the President-elect’s grandmother, flew to the US from Nairobi on Saturday night for the inauguration in the company three relatives.
Also flying out the same night was a 26-member Boys Choir of Kenya that performs on Monday at the International Conservation Caucus Foundation (ICCF) inaugural gala and on Tuesday at the Kenya Inaugural Reception in honour of the president-elect.
The ICCF dinner is a key event that is jointly chaired by former presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton and will be attended by US congressmen and women, celebrities and ambassadors from around the world.
Even though they are not officially invited to the inauguration, Cabinet ministers Moses Wetang’ula, Najib Balala and Anyang’ Nyong’o are in the US for the event.
Speaking on phone from Washington, Mr Wetang’ula said: “Our presence here is very important and critical because it reflects the importance we attach to the President-elect who has roots in Kenya. People here are looking at Kenya with a new sense of belonging and they are excitedly talking about the cradle of their success.”
In Kogelo Village where President-elect Obama’s father was born, an elaborate cultural extravaganza to celebrate the inauguration of their son enters the fourth day on Monday with the sounds of nyatiti and ohangla (Luo traditional music) renting the air.
The event has attracted hundreds of people and high profile companies, which have put up tents to promote their products.
Mr Obama’s arrived in Washington on Saturday, the final leg of a trip retracing 16th American President Abraham Lincoln’s route from Springfield, Illinois to Washington DC. Like Lincoln, Mr Obama stopped to deliver speeches in Philadelphia, Wilmington Delaware and Baltimore, Maryland.
Vice-President-elect Joe Bidden joined Mr Obama in Delaware for the trip to Washington DC, where the two families will attend events commemorating the legacy of black rights fighter Martin Luther King Jr.
Houses Congress
Mr Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the USA at 12pm on Tuesday (8pm Kenyan time) on the steps of Capitol, which houses the Congress.
Holding the Bible that was used by Lincoln in his right hand, Mr Obama will be sworn in by US Chief Justice John Roberts not far from the Lincoln Memorial where the Rev Martin Luther King Jnr delivered his immortal “I have a dream” speech.
The first inauguration ceremony in America took place more than 200 years ago with the swearing-in of George Washington, at the Balcony of Federal Hall in New York on April 30, 1789, a time when Mr Obama’s descendants could only dream of freedom from the manacles of slavery. Mr Obama’s will be the 56th presidential inauguration. Several US presidents have been sworn in more than once.
The inauguration is a symbol of continuity of leadership in the US and it will feature the Presidential Inauguration Parade, an American tradition honouring a newly-sworn in president together with the vice-president. Ceremonial military regiments and marching bands will be part of the procession.
Moments before his swearing-in ceremony, Mr Obama together his wife, Michelle, attend a church service at National Cathedral before they are escorted to the White House by members of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, also accompanied by Vice-President Biden and his wife.
Mr Obama and the outgoing President George W. Bush will hold a brief meeting and will then head to the Capitol together for the inauguration.
Unlike past inaugural ceremonies in the US, tomorrow will be the first time that the National Mall will be open to the public and an estimated 2 million people are expected to throng the area to witness Mr Obama’s swearing-in.
President Bush’s second inauguration attracted 500,000 people and President Lyndon B. Johnson’s inauguration in 1965 attracted an estimated 1.2 million people compared to President Ronald Reagan and President Bill Clinton inaugurations that drew 500,000 and 800,000 people in 1981 and 1993 respectively, according to US park services.
Lincoln’s and King Jnr’s speeches will reverberate as Mr Obama takes a presidential oath of office, that will hardly last two minutes.
The inaugural luncheon, parade and balls will follow as well as departure of President George W. Bush on a military chopper.
Mr Obama is expected to deliver a 15-minute speech, and will hopefully avoid catching pneumonia, believed to have killed President William Henry Harrison, who delivered the longest inaugural address, at 8,445 words on a cold, wet winter of March 4, 1841. He died a month later.
