Steady makeover for Obama village in just one year

Nyang’oma Kogelo Market in Siaya District today stands in sharp contrast to what it was only a year ago. From a sleepy village in the countryside, the area has risen to become one of the country’s best-known market centres.

There are many new brick structures coming up at the market. On the road leading to the home of the Kenyan kin of US President Barack Obama, modern blocks are being put up.

Single row

Previously, there was only a single row of permanent structures that were overshadowed by many temporary kiosks at the market centre, where greengrocers and other small-scale traders operated. The market now has electricity and busts with activity.

The once narrow path leading to the home of the Obama kin has been widened. The number of visitors to the area has been high. Tourists, journalists and people from all walks of life visit the home of the US President’s grandmother, Mama Sarah Obama.

Shrewd entrepreneurs are making a killing from the increased traffic with signboards strategically placed at the market advertising guesthouses and hotels located as far as Siaya.

The transformation of Nyang’oma, Kogelo was somewhat spontaneous following the announcement of President Obama’s victory last November and has been steady. Just hours after he assumed the highest office in America, technicians from Kenya Power and Lighting descended on the village to connect electricity.

This was accompanied by improvement of roads and sinking of a borehole at the homestead, courtesy of the Kenyan Government. As the government went about upgrading the social amenities of the village to which the US president traces his paternal roots, a quiet rush for land ensued.

Consequently, the prices of land in the area have gone up as speculators jostle to have a piece of Nyang’oma, Kogelo in hopes that prices will shoot even higher, as its fortunes improve with every passing day. The village is poised for more glory as the government takes decisive steps to exploit its potential as a tourism attraction.

Tourism circuit

Stakeholders hope that this could be the key that will eventually open up the Western tourism circuit, that has long eluded development. The government has already gazetted the village as a protected area under the National Museums and Heritage Act.

In a Kenya gazette notice, Heritage minister William ole Ntimama listed Kogelo among six other sites earmarked for preservation. Security within the village has been beefed up with a police patrol base established next to Mama Sarah’s home.