Nyang'oma Kogelo, also known as Kogelo, is a village in Siaya County,

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. It is located near the

equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...

, 60 kilometres (37 mi) west-northwest of

Kisumu Kisumu ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Kenya by population, third-largest city in Kenya after the capital, Nairobi, and the coastal city of Mombasa (census 2019). It is the third-largest city after Kampala and Mwanza in the Lake Victor ...

, the former Nyanza provincial capital. The population of Nyangoma-Kogelo is 3,648.The EastAfrican, 23 January 2009
Strange revearsal in Kogelo
/ref>

Services

Nyang'oma Kogelo is a typical rural Kenyan village with most residents relying on small-scale farming as their main source of income. The village has a commercial centre with various shops and a bar offering shopping and recreation to the populace.Daily Nation, 18 November 2008

/ref> The villagers practice different religions and coexist peacefully. Nevertheless, in 2009, the Nyang'oma

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

was involved in the attempted conversion of

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

's step-grandmother Sarah Obama to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. Following counsel from her family, she opted out of the arranged public conversion and

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

and remained a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

. The village has a primary school (Senator Obama Primary School) and a high school (Senator Obama Secondary School). The land for both schools was donated by

Barack Obama Sr. Barack Hussein Obama Sr. (; 18 June 1934 – 24 November 1982) was a Kenyan senior governmental economist and the father of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States. He is a central figure of his son's memoir, '' Dreams from My Fa ...

, a native of the village, and they were renamed in 2006 after his son Barack — then a

United States senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

.The Standard, 17 July 2006
Villagers' Hopes in Obama's Homecoming
There is also a health centre.BBC News, 5 November 2008
Jubilation at Obama's Kenyan home
/ref> Prior to the

2008 US presidential election The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from ...

, the village had no electricity, but was connected to the national grid immediately following Obama's victory, owing to the consequent rise in interest in the village.Daily Nation, 7 November 2008
Sleepy Kogelo village transformed overnight
/ref> The village also saw its first

Kenya Police ) , formedyear = 1906 , formedmonthday = , preceding1 = , dissolved = , superseding = , employees = approx. 101,000= , volunteers = , budget = , country = Kenya , ...

post set up in the wake of the election outcome.

Transport

The village is along the unpaved C28 road between Ng'iya and NdoriDaily Nation website, 24 January 2009
Kogelo awakes to new dawn
/ref> junctions. Less than 10 kilometres north of Kogelo, Ngiya is located along the

- Siaya road (C30 road). Few kilometres south of Nyang'oma Kogelo, a bridge built in 1930 crosses the

Yala River {{Infobox river , name = Yala River , image = YalaRiver.JPG , image_size = , image_caption = Yala river within Kakamega rainforest, western Kenya , image_alt = , map = , map ...

flowing to

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...

, before the road reaches Ndori along the Kisumu - Bondo road (C27 road). Kogelo is a road distance of 882 kilometres (548 miles) west of Mombasa.

Administration

Nyang'oma Kogelo is part of South East Alego electoral ward of Siaya County Council and

Alego Constituency Alego Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of six constituencies of Siaya County. The constituency was established for the 1963 national elections. It is also known as Alego-Usonga Constituency. The constituency has 13 wards ...

.Electoral Commission of Kenya
Polling Centres in Kenya
Following the 2007 civic elections, the local councillor is Julius Okeyo Omedo of

Orange Democratic Movement The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is a centre-left political party in Kenya. It is the successor of a grassroots people's movement which was formed during the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum campaign. This movement separated in Augu ...

. South East Alego is also an administrative location in the Karemo division of Siaya district. The location has a population of 17,294. As of 2008, the chief of the location is James Ojwang' Obalo, whose office is located next to the Nyang'oma Kogelo shopping centre.

History

Nyang'oma Kogelo is the home of the immigrant ancestors of the family of Barack Obama, the 44th

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

. They have resided in the village since colonial times.

Obama fame

Since 2006, the village has received international attention because it is the hometown of

(d. 1982), the father of former

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

. Barack Obama Sr. is buried in the village. Some of their family members still live in the village. His paternal step-grandmother

Sarah Onyango Obama Sarah Onyango Obama (1922 – March 29, 2021) was a Kenyan educator and philanthropist. She was the third wife of Hussein Onyango Obama, the paternal grandfather of U.S. president Barack Obama and helped raise his father, Barack Obama Sr. She ...

lived there until her death in March 2021. Because of its connection with the former American president, the village is expected to be visited by many tourists from the US and other countries. The Kenyan government is promoting it as a tourist attraction of western Kenya. An Obama-themed museum was to be built by the Kenyan government and opened in the village in 2009. A Nairobi-based cultural organisation will build the Dero Kogelo Library and Cultural Centre in the village. Obama visited the village in July 2018. https://www.nation.co.ke/news/Obama-leaves-Nairobi-for-Kogelo/1056-4665098-lpvplo/index.html , Barack Obama opens youth centre in Kogelo

References

External links

www.kogelo.co.ke
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nyang'oma Kogelo Siaya County Populated places in Nyanza Province