Barack Obama: Son of Africa

For some reason, I found myself awake at 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning, about an hour and a half before I needed to be. Perhaps the promise of something momentous had stirred me, because I soon remembered that the results of the American election would be in. It has been interesting to witness the U.S. election in Ghana for a number of reasons:

1.Firstly, there is an election in Ghana that has not yet captured the imagination and hearts of the Ghanaian people the way that this U.S. election has. It is no small coincidence that corruption and cynicism run high. However, having said this, one could not say that Ghanaians are not paying attention to their own election: quite the contrary.

2. Secondly, much has been made (and rightfully so) of Barak's blood-ties to Kenya and concomitantly to Pan-Africa. What worries me a little is that he has been held up as some sort of saviour-figure for Africa and he's going to have a more than enough work set out for him on American soil without taking on Africa's vast and complicated political landscape(s).

3. The final reason I find this election noteworthy is that somewhere in its midst, a Canadian election happened with hardly a whimper (at least from where I'm writing!). I must confess that I did not vote even though I could have at the Canadian Embassy. I just didn't feel informed enough to cast my vote, but I'm sure I'd have felt confident enough to vote for Obama, given the opportunity.

I was, as many were, moved to tears and goosebumps at various moments during Obama's victory speech (and suitably impressed with McCain's concession speech). He is, it seems, a president for the planet. I heard about a BBC poll that surveyed 122 countries and 122 of them chose Barak Obama. Capturing the majority of the votes is one thing, but capturing the hearts and minds of a planet is quite another. There was, as I understand it, a national holiday declared in Kenya following the result, and here in Ghana, there was a rumour of one (that was soon quashed by the Ministry of the Interior). The hot new items for street sellers are calendars, t-shirts, posters, and books, all on the theme of Barack Obama! One of the questions will inevitably be: Where were you when you learned that Barack Obama would be the first African-American U.S. President? Why, I was in Africa, and it was, apparently, one of the continent's finest hours.