Is Obama's brother a wife beater? President's sibling is accused of attacking two of his TWELVE wives and seducing a schoolgirl. Now he's using his White House links to launch his own bid for power

President Obama's half-brother accused of being wife beater
Roy Abong'o Malik Obama standing for election in Kenya
Dismisses wife-beating allegations as being ‘a matter of interpretation’

PUBLISHED: 22:31 GMT, 3 March 2013 | UPDATED: 23:28 GMT, 3 March 2013

On the broiling shores of Lake Victoria, a man in Islamic garb is making a politician’s sales pitch to a group of baffled villagers and the resident witch doctor — a wild-eyed character with green and pink parrot feathers in his hair. He is pontificating on an oddly familiar theme: a time for change.

Yet the man on the election stump in this remote part of Africa perhaps has more right than most to appropriate the message that helped Barack Obama become America’s first black president. For the tall, paunchy figure trying to win over the villagers is 55-year-old Roy Abong’o Malik Obama, half-brother of the U.S. President and now following his famous sibling into politics.

Today, Kenya goes to the polls to choose a president, members of parliament and senators, county governors and members of the newly-formed county assembly. Malik is standing for the position of governor of Siaya County, a role which would see him leading nearly a million people. Average earnings here are 100 Kenyan Shillings (about 80p) a day.

Not that hardship looms for their putative new leader. If he wins, the newest Obama on the political block will hit the jackpot — earning an annual salary of more than £100,000, which would take an average Kenyan 66 years to earn, and is the equivalent of £3 million in Britain, as well as perks which include a ‘retirement bonus’ of £75,000, a car, driver, VIP travel and bodyguard for life.

This is not the first time I have observed one of President Obama’s brothers at close quarters. Last year, I reported in the Mail how George Obama, 30 — born to the fourth wife of the President’s father — also hoped to stand for political leadership in Kenya. I tracked him down to a shack in a Nairobi slum, where he spends his days drinking moonshine and boasting about his Oval Office connection.

Like George, Malik is not shy about trading on the family name. Glistening with sweat, a white Arabic skull-cap on his head, he was to be found at the weekend standing on the back of a pick-up truck exhorting people to: ‘Vote Obama — vote for change.’

As he addresses crowds, his followers hand out leaflets featuring photos of him sitting in the White House with his half-brother.

‘Malik Obama has international connections which can attract investment to build factories and manufacturing industries,’ trumpets the text. ‘Malik Obama is a new leader who will bring new direction to our county.’

The leaflets add that charity does not alleviate poverty — it can only be halted by ‘empowering poor, youth and women by tapping their potential’.

Election: Malik Obama, the half-brother of United States President Barack Obama is standing for the position of governor of Siaya County