Was Obama's Dad Murdered?

Family members question 'car accident' story
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 21, 2010 8:15 AM CDT
Was Obama's Dad Murdered?
In this Feb. 5, 2008 file photo, a photograph of Barack Obama Sr. hangs on the wall of Sarah Hussein Obama's house in the village of Kogelo, near the shores of Lake Victoria, Kenya.   (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

The official story is that President Obama’s father died after crashing his car into a tree—but Obama’s family in Kenya fears foul play had a hand in his death, according to a book Peter Firstbrook is working on about the Obamas. Though Barack Sr.’s car appeared to have hit a tree, “he didn’t look like somebody who was involved in an accident,” the president’s cousin told Firstbrook. His grandmother told a similar tale. "His body was never broken, his vehicle was not badly crashed. He was just dead after the accident. Not even much blood was seen."

The elder Obama, a member of the Luo tribe, did not hide his anger at Kenyan leaders who turned a blind eye to corruption, and “bright Luos were eliminated by the Kenyatta government,” said a friend. Indeed, “everybody I spoke to” had their doubts, says Firstbrook. But an expert on Kenyan history says she’s “extremely skeptical” of such theories, notes the New Yorker, particularly since Obama Sr. was “a serious, fall-down alcoholic." She continues, "Understandably, there are some Luos who have an interest in making Obama, Sr., out to be a perhaps more heroic and high-ranking figure than he ever was in real life. " (More President Obama stories.)

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