It sounds like an offer he can refuse and almost certainly will if for no other reason than that his daughter Malia will turn only 17 in July.
Nevertheless, CNN reports, Felix Kiprono, a lawyer in Nairobi, Kenya, has offered America’s first black president a dowry of 50 cows, 70 sheep, and 30 goats in exchange for the hand of the older of Barack Obama’s two daughters.
Kiprono is quoted as telling a Nairobi newspaper:
People might say I am after the family’s money, which is not the case. My love is real.
I got interested in her in 2008. As a matter of fact, I haven’t dated anyone since and promise to be faithful to her. I have shared this with my family and they are willing to help me raise the bride price.
So what would life for Malia be like in her father’s ancestral homeland?
Ours will be a simple life. I will teach Malia how to milk a cow, cook ugali (a porridge) and prepare mursik (a sour milk) like any other Kalenjin woman.
CNN notes that according to prices on Africa Farming, Kiprono’s offer could be worth in excess of $90,000. Even so, if Obama were to accept the deal, he’d need to find a place to house the livestock, unless he chose to become the first president to maintain herds of farm animals on the White House lawn.
On the other hand, he might be doing his daughter a kind service, especially if he and his wife make good on their threat plan to relocate to the Big Apple after his time in office ends. The air quality in New York is among the nation’s worst, while the air in Nairobi is relatively healthy, which might be a really selling point to the president’s daughter, who supposedly suffers with asthma.
