An Invitation letter to Obama to visit the land of his father

By Gathenya Njaramba

Dear President Obama,

Sir, first receive greetings from the people of your beloved father’s country.

I know you may not read this especially if your handlers and Government operatives succeed in blocking certain sites.

They may want to know more about this audacious columnist, harbouring dreams of talking to the most powerful politician in the world.

I also know after nearly two years in power, you are not sitting pretty due to dwindling home support to your Democratic Party.

There have been unsavoury reports of a growing number of Americans becoming disillusioned with your campaign slogan of ‘Yes We Can’.

Your Republican opponents led by the gaffe-prone but irresistible Sarah Palin have turned your ‘wow’ rallying call to ‘Yes We Cannot’.

And because the buck stops with your office, all misfortunes in the land of opportunity today, are squarely directed at you. Some may be attributed to your commission or omission, but then again Mr President you are the boss.

The global recession may be fizzling out and the US economy gradually gaining ground, but Americans are still on your neck. You promised them quality education, better healthcare and housing, which they wanted like yesterday.

But before I digress from the mainstay of this missive, allow me to remind you of a story of one Eliahu Shaoul Cohen and Smith Hempstone.

Eli Cohen, as he was fondly known, was born a bright boy on December 26, 1924, in Alexandria, Egypt. His parents were Syrian Jews.

Around the time he became an adult in the 1950s, Israel was a besieged nation, surrounded by ‘enemies.’ The young nation, therefore, had to employ daring espionage to survive the onslaught from its powerful neighbours.

Their intelligence agency, Mossad, had to spy on the neighbours to anticipate any attacks and prepare for a defence. The proactive agency approached the young Eli Cohen and turned him into a spy based in Syria.

Using the name Kamal Amin Ta’abet from 1962, Cohen supplied valuable political and military details on Syria to Mossad.

Eli Cohen had infiltrated the Syrian Government to the extent he was on the verge of being named Prime Minister. He had hoodwinked everybody as to his real mission.

Now, the late Hempstone was your country’s ambassador in Kenya where he raffled feathers before his acrimonious exit. He later assumed the unflattering moniker of ‘Rogue Ambassador’ and penned a book with the same title.

Without wasting much of your time, Sir the people from the land of your father, are not happy. Whistleblower website WikiLeaks is about to disclose damaging sentiments from your past and present envoys on how they view our leaders.

Advance leaks say your ‘people’ have been snooping around for our leaders’ personal details. They include their DNA, love live, likes and dislikes.

Diplomacy is all about reputation and the ball is in your court Mr President. You may want to confirm for yourself what the envoys have reported.

But the claims are not flattering and you must work hard to restore the tainted view we now have of your country. Allegations that the US is funding Kenyan youth to take over political leadership do not augur well. Your representative Ambassador Michael Ranneberger’s foray into rural Kenya is all too well, but he has been accused of sending the wrong political signals.

After you snubbed us during your African tour and visited Ghana, you may now consider paying homage to the land of your father.

Sir, you may want to assure us of your good intentions and keep the dreams from your father’s land burning.

Not on one occasions Sir, we have been victims of your quarrels with other nations and groups.