Obamas partisan support for Odinga was considered so transparent, that the Kenyan Government spokesman, Alfred Matua, complained of political posturing to aid Odingas election chances: It is very clear that the senator has been used as a puppet to perpetuate opposition politics,(Walking The World Stage Newsweek 9/11/06).
“What we can confirm is that Obama has remained neutral in Kenyan politics, and did not support Odinga during his trip. Odinga attended some of Obamas events while Obama was in Kenya, and clearly wanted to associate himself with Obama, but there is no evidence to indicate that Obama openly supported Odinga. (We previously reported on a letter from missionaries that alleged Obama contributed to Odingas campaign; we rated it Pants on Fire! wrong.)
For this statement, we decided to scour the public record for evidence that Obama supported Odinga. We looked to contemporary accounts of the 2006 trip and found a transcript from an interview Obama gave to a Kenyan newspaper that directly contradicts Corsis allegation.
Question: As you prepared to travel to Kenya you were obviously conscious of two things. One was about being drawn into local politics. The other was the high expectations of what you could do for Kenya now that you are a senator. How did you handle both?
Obama: One of the things we try to do is meet with all parties. I met President Kibaki, I met Uhuru Kenyatta, I was with Raila Odinga. We met the government, met the opposition and met other groups such as human rights activists. What I try to do is give a consistent message on what I think U.S.-Kenya relations should be, but not to suggest somehow that I think one party is better than the other. Thats for the Kenyan people to decide.