NAIROBI, Jan 20: Bulls and goats were slaughtered for feasts, dancers put on traditional costumes and giant movie screens were erected so everyone could see events a continent away.

Across Kenya, neighbours divided by political violence only a year ago came together on Tuesday to celebrate the US presidential inauguration of Kenya’s favourite son, Barack Obama.

Dr Joseph Osoo, who runs a clinic in one of Kenya’s biggest slums, recalled that at this time last year, he was stitching up machete wounds inflicted by rival party members in rioting that followed Kenya’s disputed election.

“Our election in Kenya really had problems with ethnicity,” he said as he shopped for meat for an Obama feast. “America has shown that this doesn’t have to be that big problem ... democracy can work.”

The election of a black American president stands as a powerful symbol of unity on this continent, where many countries are still riven between competing ethnic groups and the older generations vividly remember the injustices of colonialism.

This struggling country of 38 million is immensely proud to boast the birthplace of Obama’s father, and the enthusiasm Kenyans feel for America’s new president unites people from different ethnic groups.

Teachers hold up Obama as a role model to their students and advertisers plaster his face across everything from phones to beer.

For some, the inauguration was a chance to make a little extra cash. One in five Kenyans struggle to get by on less than a dollar a day.

Denis Mwangi, a 21-year-old business student, sold 50 Obama T-shirts on Monday more than he usually sells in a weekend.

“Obama should inspire people to be better and stop judging people according to their ethnicity,” he said.

Bulls and goats were slaughtered on Tuesday in the village of Kogelo in western Kenya, where many of Obama’s Kenyan relatives live. Around 5,000 people congregated at a local primary school to celebrate. Women dressed in colourful printed cloths performed traditional dances at dawn today to the rhythms of cowhide drums.

Since Obama was elected, the road to the village has been tarred and the government has extended electricity and water. Local youths hope Obama will bring factories for them to work in.

Samuel Omondi said if Obama could bring such changes, he was welcome to take over from his own country’s scandal-wracked government.

“I hope Kenya to be one of the American states,” the 33-year-old Kogelo resident said.—AP