Kenyans pray for Obama win, plan election parties

KISUMU, Kenya – Kenyans filled churches on Tuesday to pray that Barack Obama becomes the first black American president as Africans organized all-night election parties in honor of a candidate who is wildly popular across this vast continent.

The front pages of local Kenyan newspapers and their coverage of U.S. Sen. Barrack Obama and the U.S. elections are seen in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008. From the capital of Nairobi to the bustling city of Kisumu near Barack Obama's ancestral home, Kenyans are excited about the man they see as a 'son of the soil', and ready to celebrate if he wins the U.S. presidential election.

"Obamamania" is particularly strong in Kenya, where the Democratic candidate's late father was born about an hour's drive from the lakeside town of Kisumu. In Kogelo, where Obama's step-grandmother still lives, hordes of journalists gathered and police blocked access to the family's homestead.

"Tonight we are not going to sleep," said Valentine Wambi, 23, a student at the University of Nairobi. "It will be celebrations throughout."

Many Africans hope an Obama presidency would help the continent, the poorest in the world. Some are hoping for promises of more U.S. aid to Africa, while others bask in the glory of a successful black politician with African roots.

Kenya's two main newspapers ran Obama stories on the front page. The Standard newspaper also offered a 16-page "Obama Magic Souvenir Pullout," with photos of the candidate as a child and during his campaign.

In South Africa, The Citizen newspaper had a one-word banner headline: "Obamania!" The Star said: "Obama dream within reach," and The Times, simply, "Yes, he can!"

Obama was born in Hawaii, where he spent most of his childhood reared by his mother, a white American from Kansas. He barely knew his late father, an economist from Kogelo. But that has not stopped "Obamamania" from sweeping the continent.

In Uganda, hundreds of university students booked the largest hall on campus in the capital, Kampala, to watch the results on television.

"We will feast if Obama wins," said Makerere University student Robert Rutaro. "We will celebrate by marching on the streets of Kampala and hold a big party later on."