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I must admit to feeling goosebumps and perhaps even a threatening tear or two when I learned of Barack Obama's election win this morning. How momentous, how symbolic, how wonderful that he won with such a landslide! It felt like you had to pinch yourself to believe it's true.
The significance of his victory is enormous not least to Kenyans who say, 'One of our own has risen up and won the most powerful seat in the world! We are very proud.'
Kenya celebrates. In Kisumu it's wild. Residents stayed up all night in the Kenyatta City Stadium to watch results coming in on massive screens donated for the occasion. Now Mwai Kibaki has announced tomorrow a public holiday in Kenya. Statesment plan to visit the city and throw a proper party African style with food and drink for everybody, dancing and singing. A celebration will be very welcome after a year which began with the city being hammered hard by post election violence in January.
I gather that Kisumu airport will now be renamed 'Barack Obama International Airport'. It's good that Kenya and the western city of Kisumu are receiving tons of positive worldwide press coverage today. It puts the country back on the map after such a disasterous start to the year where it was all pictures of machetes and rioting.
A lot of respect has been given to John McCain for conceeding his position so nobly - an example that can be held up for African leaders to follow in the future. A proper, democratic election took place. No fighting, no manipulating of results, no bloodshed.
Everyone is bursting with pride and hope. The feeling is that if a half Kenyan man can become President of the United States then the sky is the limit for everyone.