Over here it's all about Barry.

Well in our neck of the woods, politics has been diverted temporarily to front page stories all over about Barry, the Luo fellow from Siaya district who happens to be running for a seriously high powered presidential seat, although not here in Kenya I might add.

To those hailing from Western Province, there's absolutely NO explanation needed here as to who on earth I may be talking about, but for those of you from further afield who may be slightly lost, I am speaking of none other than Senator Barrack Obama.

To a lot of Kenyans (especially those from the lakeside), Senator Obama is nothing less than 100% Kenyan. His father came from here so that'll do it for us. The fact that the Senator has only actually visited this country three times in his entire lifetime is totally irrelevant, and the point that he hardly knew his father who is reported to have been a drunk and abusive husband is somehow totally overlooked.

I think this quote from Rob Crilly in "The Times" really sums up this Obama fever here in Kenya and what it's really all about ...... (a spot of cash and a free US visa);

"A steady stream of would-be economic migrants has been arriving at Granny Sarah's door seeking an American visa. Almost every day she has to explain that the U.S. embassy in Nairobi is the only place that can make their American dream come true. But even Granny Sarah admits to harbouring secret hopes of a local windfall if Obama's momentum carries him all the way to America's highest office. "What we hope is that with his Kenyan and Africa roots we will see some of the fruits of his power, like electricity, water and a new road," she says simply in her native Luo language."

At least she got herself an autographed picture...

By the way,"Granny Sarah" is actually Obama's step-grandmother and his grandfather's third wife. And the fact that she lives in a little house in a very small village looking after chickens and goats, has no running water or electricity, and it was her fellow villagers who raised money to get her a TV with a small solar panel so that she could keep up with US politics is of course of no matter now that young Barry's got a shot at the most powerful position in the world!

Hey, perhaps he'll chuck some extra aid money our way as payment for bringing up his father. I'm sure our local politicians could do with a bit more cash to squander on their expense accounts.

Kenyans continue to live in a dream world.

Well there's been some marvellous lines coming out of government nominated ministers with regards to the hopeful negotiations that all of us Kenyans have been waiting for in earnest on the eve of the opening of parliament and the arrival of Mr Kofi Annan.

The government has now announced that they are only letting Kofi Annan into the country through courtesy and they had not invited him (he was only invited by the ODM party only), as they have no complaints themselves with the election results and don't see why they need mediation at all! The government doesn't sound like they have any thoughts of real negotiations and will just try and pretend everything is quite normal and get on with business as usual.

I am personally distraught by this new revelation as it sounds like we will most definitely be in for some tense few days and things in this country could go horribly wrong once again.

My driver went home to Western Kenya this weekend to bury some family members, (one of which was caught up in the violence), and he tells me tension is incredibly high still in the ODM stronghold. On the main roads - even now - there are roadblocks being set up by Kalenjins with ODM t-shirts and caps stopping people and asking them what tribe they are and where their political affiliations lie.

I have also heard from someone living in Siaya (which is again in the Western part of the country), that the town is overrun with armed men dressed in Kenya police uniform who seem to know very little Swahili and only speak to each other in Luganda.

This does not bode well at all, as Ugandan soldiers are well known for having absolutely no qualms about shooting anyone who they feel is in their way.

This has been vehemently denied by the marvellous Alfred Mutua - the government spokesman who right now the whole of Kenya seems to want to blat - whichever side of the fence they are on, as he has this fixed smirk on his face that really needs wiping off! The rumours of the Ugandan troops has also been denied by the police spokesman and whoever else on the government side has been asked about it.

Aid trucks from the Red Cross have been attacked in lots of Western areas trying to do their best and feed the people. It seems that they are being targeted by gangs who try and get everything off the truck for themselves and their own groups and they have no wish to share it fairly with those displaced it seems. Perhaps this is because these gangs are the ones who displaced those the Red Cross are trying to feed - who knows, but whatever the reason, people are starving that is for sure.

What is going on out there in Western Kenya is really quite a frightening prospect and I think here in Nairobi we are being shielded incredibly well from the real truth of what is going on right under our noses.

Some fab Kenyans have taken the initiative and set up a website in order to try and change the fact that we are living in a little bubble here pretending things are just 'business as usual', which from reports of people up-country, are so not. The website is Ushahidi.com and is a tool for people who witness acts of violence in Kenya in these post-election times. You can report the incident that you have seen, and it appears on a map-based view for others to see. They are working with local Kenyan NGO’s to get information and to verify each incident.

Meanwhile here in Nairobi the centre of town will be on 'lock down' from 11am as Parliament is scheduled to sit at noon.

I'll be sure to let you know what I hear, as I hear it tomorrow.