Another Obama Is Getting Into Electoral Politics…Barack Obama’s Half Brother, Malik Obama

Malik Obama, who was best man at the US president's wedding, said his half-brother's "accomplishments" despite intense opposition had prompted him to stand as an independent local candidate in Kenya'sforthcoming county polls.
If he is successful, he will then contest the presidency in the next general election, due in 2018.
The two men share a father, but have different mothers. They first met in 1985 and have remained close ever since.

"The significance of his achievements and accomplishments alone have inspired me, and I feel I have a duty and an obligation very much like
he has talked of, to help change people's lives," he said.



"There have been many people asking me to run for president [of Kenya] this time, but I have said, no, let me first cut my teeth with local
politics and then, at the next elections, I will definitely go for the top job."
Mr Obama, 54, is an accountant by profession and has promised to tackle entrenched poverty in his home county, Siaya, in western Kenya,
where the US president's step-grandmother still lives.
"There is so much potential here in Siaya, the resources are here, but poverty is rampant, corruption is rampant, what is needed is better management of resources to ensure development," he said.
He had spoken to his half-brother in Washington soon after he won re-election in November, who had encouraged him to run, Malik Obama said. But he added that he would not be seeking a direct endorsement from the US President.



"It does not work like that," he said. "But I do have wide exposure, and I will be able to mobilise resources from well-wishers around the
world for the benefit of the people of Siaya."
One in three people in the county, one of 47 in Kenya, lives in poverty, the HIV prevalence rate is far higher than the national
average and unemployment runs at close to 80% among young people.
In Dreams From My Father, Barack Obama wrote about a visit to the area, describing the fertile land but how people still begged for
money.
"Much must change here, and then much must change in the country as a whole," Malik Obama said. "With my background, with the fact that
Barack and I are cut from the same cloth, I believe I can be the man to bring that change."