MALIK Obama, who is running for office in western Kenya, on Monday said his half-brother, US President Barack Obama, had promised to visit if elections were free and fair.
The 54-year-old accountant said the theme for his campaign in the race for governor of Siaya county was "change". That echoes the slogan of "hope and change" with which his brother was swept into the US presidency in 2008.
For Malik Obama, change means "the eradication of poverty, the development of infrastructure and job creation."
He told dpa by telephone: "I bring honesty, sincerity, and putting the welfare of my people first.
"Also, there are connections I can use."
Malik Obama runs a community centre in the hamlet of Kogelo, surrounded by cornfields and forests. The area saw a minor tourist boom and was fitted with power lines and a paved road after his famous relative became president in 2008.
He said he and Barack Obama, 51, last spoke after the US elections, when the latter promised to visit Kenya if the elections were fair and transparent.
Many Kenyans were disappointed that Barack Obama did not visit during his first term. In 2009, Obama's first trip to sub-Saharan Africa was to Ghana.
Malik Obama told dpa he draws inspiration from his younger sibling's accomplishments.
He is running as an independent against a major party candidate, but he said he offers something different and his background as an accountant makes him suited for government work.
"We need somebody who understands economics because we have the resources here but we just don't have the managers," he said.
"It behooves me also to make a contribution as the first born and to do that here in Kenya, in Africa."
Malik and Barack Obama have the same father - once a goat-herder in Kenya, who became an academic.
Barack Obama last visited Kenya in 2006, when he was a US senator.
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