Special Report: U.S. presidential election 2008
 Backgrounder: Polling time on U.S. Election Day
Backgrounder: U.S. presidential candidates' views on key issues
Backgrounder: Numbers of electoral voters by U.S. state

by Daniel Ooko

    NAIROBI, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Carnival mood has gripped Kenya as citizens were planning massive parties with the expectation that U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will make history by becoming the first African American president of the world's biggest economy.

A Kenyan citizen wears a hat with Barack Obama's photo to show his support for the Illinois Senator on the eve of U.S. Election Day. (Xinhua/AFP Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    The 47-year-old Obama, Illinois Senator whose father was Kenyan, was going into the final day of the campaign holding onto a seven-point opinion poll lead over Republican candidate John McCain.

    Discussions in social and entertainment places in Kenya are about little else, interrupted only occasionally by football league and when a story comes up on Obama on TV sets in restaurants and other popular drinking dens, silence takes over.

    "We then nod in satisfaction; We will follow the elections until the winner is announced. No sleeping. Period," said Dominic Odhiambo from Kenya's lakeside city of Kisumu.

    Drums of victory were already sounding across Kenya and East Africa on Monday night with Ugandans arriving in groups in the lakeside town of Kisumu to join the celebrations.

    "I could not get a flight to Kisumu on Monday. That's why I driving to Kisumu to join my family in celebrations," Joy Auma, 40, told Xinhua.

    Nairobi, Kisumu and Coast hoteliers announced special Obama night to last till morning, where patrons are expected to eat and drink to their fill as they monitor the poll results. A popular Nairobi restaurant, the Carnivore, has also lowered its prices for the day to allow their customers to monitor the U.S. election results.

    Dozens of public transport vehicles, matatus, around Kenya have colourfully decorated Obama's name and picture on their sides and windows. And it was needless to say everyone wants to ride in the Obama vehicles. "He is huge here. We followed our hero through the primaries, through Iowa, Florida and everywhere else. We are now ready to usher him into the gates of the White House," said James Onyango, a resident of Kisumu.

    The preparation for the parties and all night vigils came as both Obama and McCain went on frenzied last-minute campaign rallies across the so-called battleground states.

    But the situation was no different in other major Kenyan cities and towns where entertainment spots are expecting booming business from revellers keeping wake to monitor the U.S. election.

    Many Kenyans regard Obama as one of their own. Obama himself detailed his Kenyan ancestry in his memoir Dreams From My Father. Obama's father bore children with four women in the United States and Kenya. He left the candidate's mother, Ann Dunham, to return to Kenya.

    Kenyan television correspondents report live daily from the United States, and from Kogelo village, home to Obama's grandparents where international media have been airing live news.

    Framed photographs of Obama are sold in the street next to portraits of Kenya's president and prime minister, which usually are hung in offices. Peddlers also hawk Obama T-shirts, buttons and keychains. Songs praising Obama are hits, heard nationwide in nightclubs, drinking dens and people's homes.

    Tuesday's presidential election in the United States will be decided in about a dozen battleground states where most opinion polls showed Obama ahead of McCain.

    A series of opinion polls released on Monday showed Obama ahead of McCain in six of eight battleground states, including the big prizes of Florida and Ohio. Here are some battleground states with their electoral vote totals.

    But the U.S. Democrat presidential candidate's quest for the office suffered a blow on early Tuesday after his 86-year-old grandmother, Madely Dunham, lost her battle to cancer.

    Members of the Obama family, including the candidate's half-sister Auma, uncle Said and his father's first wife Kezia, have gathered in Kogelo village ahead of the election.

    Swamped by local and international journalists, the modest family homestead has been cordoned off by the Kenyan police, and the family is refusing to make comments until the election is over.

    They have set aside a bull to slaughter in celebration should the Illinois senator win, according to family spokesperson Malik Abongo.

    But whether Obama will win the race remains to be seen within a few hours remaining.