Nyang’oma Kogelo, also known as Kogelo, is a village in Siaya District

Siaya District

Siaya District is one of the twelve districts that make up Nyanza Province in the southwest part of Kenya. It is bordered by Busia District to the North, Vihiga and Butere/Mumias Districts to the North-East, Bondo District to the South, and Kisumu District to the South-East. The total area of the...

, Nyanza Province

Nyanza Province

Nyanza Province of Kenya, is one of Kenya's eight administrative provinces. It is located in the southwest part of Kenya around Lake Victoria. Nyanza includes part of the eastern edge of Lake Victoria and is inhabited predominantly by the Luo. There are also Bantu-speaking tribes such as the...

, Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

. It is located near the equator

Equator

An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....

, 60 kilometres (37 mi) west-northwest of Kisumu

Kisumu

Kisumu is a port city in western Kenya at , with a population of 355,024 . It is the third largest city in Kenya, the principal city of western Kenya, the immediate former capital of Nyanza Province and the headquarters of Kisumu County. It has a municipal charter but no city charter...

, the provincial capital. The population of Nyangoma-Kogelo is 3,648 .

Services

It is a typical Kenyan rural village with most residents living modestly through small-scale farming. The village has a shopping centre with shops and a bar. 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 Obama, Sr.

Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. was a Kenyan senior governmental economist and the father of U.S. President Barack Obama. He is a central subject in his son's memoir, Dreams from My Father.-Early life:...

, a native of the village and they were renamed after his son and then U.S. senator Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 in 2006. There is also a health centre. Previously the village had no electricity, but it was connected to the power network immediately after the 2008 US presidential election

United States presidential election, 2008

The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...

. In 2008 Kenya Police

Kenya Police

The Kenya Police is a national body in charge of law enforcement in the East Africa State of Kenya. While organised at a national level, each arm reports to a Provincial police authority, which in turn divides its force by local Police Divisions, headquartered at local police stations...

 set up a police post at the village. The Nyang’oma Seventh-day Adventist Church

Seventh-day Adventist Church

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...

 is among the local places of worship .

Transport

The village is along the unpaved C28 road between Ng’iya  and Ndori  junctions. Less than 10 kilometres north of Kogelo, Ngiya is located along the Kisumu

Kisumu

Kisumu is a port city in western Kenya at , with a population of 355,024 . It is the third largest city in Kenya, the principal city of western Kenya, the immediate former capital of Nyanza Province and the headquarters of Kisumu County. It has a municipal charter but no city charter...

 - Siaya

Siaya

Siaya is a town in Nyanza Province of Kenya. It is the capital of Siaya District. It is located 50 kilometres Northwest of Kisumu, the provincial capital. Siaya forms munipical council with population of 41,174, of whom 13,787 are classified urban ....

 road (C30 road) . Few kilometres south of Nyang’oma Kogelo, a bridge built in 1930 crosses the Yala River flowing to Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, by John Hanning Speke, the first European to discover this lake....

 , before the road reaches Ndori along the Kisumu - Bondo

Bondo, Kenya

Bondo is a town in Nyanza Province of Kenya. It the capital of Bondo District. Bondo is located 50 kilometres west of Kisumu, the provincial capital. Bondo forms a town council with a population of 29,165, of whom 7,797 are classified urban ....

 road (C27 road).

Administration

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

Alego Constituency

Alego Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of three constituencies of Siaya District. The constituency was established for the 1963 national elections. It is also known as Alego-Usonga Constituency...

. Following the 2007 civic elections

Kenyan general election, 2007

Kenyan general election, 2007 was held on 27 December 2007 . It comprised Presidential, parliamentary and civic elections. The previous general election in Kenya was held in 2002.-See also:*Kenyan presidential election, 2007...

, the local councillor is Julius Okeyo Omedo of Orange Democratic Movement

Orange Democratic Movement

Orange Democratic Movement refers to a political party in Kenya, which is the successor of a former grassroots people's movement which was formed in the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum. The erstwhile single party which separated in August 2007 into two...

. South East Alego is also an administrative location

Locations of Kenya

||Locations are a type of administrative region in Kenya. Location are a fourth level subdivision below Provinces, Districts and Divisions. Locations are further subdivided into Sub-locations . As of 1999 census there were 2,427 locations and 6,612 sublocations in Kenya .Each division in Kenya is...

 in the Karemo division

Divisions of Kenya

||The districts of Kenya are divided into 262 divisions . Divisions of Kenya are further subdivided into locations. The divisions are listed below, by district:-Baringo District:*Kabarnet*Kabartonjo*Marigat*Mochongoi*Mogotio*Nginyang...

 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.

Obama fame

Since 2006, the village received international attention, since it is the hometown of Barack Obama, Sr.

Barack Obama, Sr.

Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. was a Kenyan senior governmental economist and the father of U.S. President Barack Obama. He is a central subject in his son's memoir, Dreams from My Father.-Early life:...

, the father of current United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

. Barack Obama, Sr. is buried in the village. Some of their family members, including his paternal step-grandmother Sarah Onyango Obama, still live in the village.

Due to Barack Obama's presidency, 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 is set 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.