US senator wins applause with Kiswahili

A US senator startled his audience when he used the first 40 seconds of his speech to tell Kenyans, in their own language, that he was glad to be back in Nairobi after a 27-year hiatus.

When Mr Christopher Coons stepped onto the podium at Thursday's national prayer breakfast meeting at Nairobi’s Safari Park Hotel, he said a lively “Hamjambo” (Hello).

The response was “Hatujambo”. Its delivery was only a little louder than a collective murmur.

Mr Coons went on: “Asante sana kwa chakula kizuri. Nimefurahi kurudi Kenya. Mimi ni mwanafunzi … nilikuwa University of Nairobi 1984. Ingawa miaka mingi kupita, mimi bado katika upendo wa moyo wangu kwa ajili kwa Kenya”

(Thank you very much for the delicious food. I am glad to be back in Kenya. I was a student at the University of Nairobi back in 1984. Although many years have passed, I still love Kenya very much from the bottom of my heart).

Blissful bewilderment

As he delivered that bit of his speech, there was some kind of blissful bewilderment.

There were also fervent nods and smiles, with people turning to each other with the did-you-just-hear-that look.

With every pause that he took between the sentences, there was a roaring applause from the audience.

The man is a politician. From his performance yesterday, it seems he knows how to move audiences.

He is, after all, the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on African Affairs, which is subordinate to the Foreign Relations Committee of the US Senate.

You don’t get such high-profile jobs without being a good diplomat and an astute politician, at least in America.

Mr Coons went ahead and told his guests — including President Kibaki, House Speaker Kenneth Marende, MPs and top government officials — that he had brought greetings from US Vice-President Joe Biden and US President Barack Obama.

The audience cheered.

Many Kenyans remember Mr Biden visiting the country in June 2010. During the visit, he had a very long chat with a few Kenyans at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre.

Like Senator Coons, Mr Biden was somewhat jocular, especially, with the introduction: “I am Joe Biden. I work for Barack Obama.”

Mr Coons represents Delaware in the Senate. Mr Biden represented Delaware before he moved to work for Mr Obama.

President Obama is popular in the country because his father was Kenyan.

But if you thought the Kenyan leadership was happy that President Obama was sending visitors to Kenya, you are not quite right.

Mr Marende has a bone to pick with the US President. He is not happy that President Obama has not visited his father’s land in his first term as the Head of State of a superpower.

“Please, pass our best wishes for him to win the next elections. And tell him that we have felt his presence for the past four years but (we are not happy) that we have conspicuously missed in his itinerary,” Mr Marende told Mr Coons. “And tell him that as soon as he is re-elected, we would love to feature in his itinerary”.

In his speech, the senator said the US was willing to “provide small help to move the country towards free and fair elections”.

To illustrate the legendary Kenyan hospitality that most foreigners who come to Kenya experience, he gave an anecdote of his visit to rural Kenya back in the day.

Welcomed heartily

Mr Coons said he was welcomed heartily, with the people saying: “Karibu nyumbani” (Welcome home)”.

And, when the food came, they kept filling his plate on and on and on, until he got the Kiswahili words for saying “I am full”.

He said when he got the words, he blurted them out with relief: “Nimeshiba kabisa”.

“Your sense of family, your hospitality, is impressive!” Mr Coons said.

The US senator, who felt nostalgic, said many things had changed in Kenya’s capital but “some things remain the same”.

“I stood in Uhuru Park and I could recognise two buildings which were there then. And I also noticed a million new cars (on Kenyan roads),” said Mr Coons.

And just as he had begun, the US senator had the courtesy and presence of mind to conclude in Kiswahili: “Asante sana. Mungu awabariki, na Mungu aibariki nchi ya Kenya siku zote”

(Thank you very much. God bless you and God bless Kenya every day). This was greeted by roaring applause, with a handful of those in the audience giving the man a standing ovation.

It reminds one of President Kibaki’s conclusions to his speeches: “Thank you very much, Asanteni. Asante sana. Thank you very much indeed!”