“My love is real,” Kenyan attorney Felix Kiprono Matagei tells Kenyan news outlet The Nairobian, in an interview in which he explains his plan to request Malia Obama’s hand in marriage from her father when the President visits Kenya in July. Kiprono is offering 50 cows, 70 sheep and 30 goats as “bride price,” and vows to woo the elder Obama daughter with traditional sour milk.
Kenya’s largest newspaper, The Standard, describes Kiprono as moderately well-known in Kenya for having opposed the inauguration of current President Uhuru Kenyatta. Kiprono has claimed he is prepared to discuss the marriage issue with President Obama personally. “I got interested in her in 2008. As a matter of fact, I haven’t dated anyone since and promise to be faithful to her,” he tells The Nairobian. “I have shared this with my family and they are willing to help me raise the bride price.”
Malia Obama was ten years old in 2008, and will turn 18 in July.
Kiprono insists that he is truly in love with Malia Obama and will send the President a letter especially requesting she come with him to Kenya. He has already planned out his proposal:
If my request is granted, I will not resort to the cliché of popping champagne. Instead, I will surprise her with mursik, the traditional Kalenjin sour milk. As an indication that she is my queen, I will tie sinendet, which is a sacred plant, around her head.. I will propose to her on a popular hill in Bureti near my father’s land where leaders and warriors are usually crowned. The place is called Kapkatet, which means ‘victory’… ours will be a simple life. I will teach Malia how to milk a cow, cook ugali and prepare mursik like any other Kalenjin woman.
Kiprono appears to be a longtime supporter of the President, and has planned to move in Kenyan court to grant Obama his nation’s citizenship when he visits. “The Kenyan constitution allows for dual citizenship and instead of the Kenyan delegation receiving Obama with a banquet of flowers, they should present him with a Kenyan identity card and passport as soon as he sets foot in Kenya. A perfect homecoming to a Kenyan son,” he is quoted as stating.
A Facebook page bearing his name, photos of the same man in images used by The Standard and other media outlets, and a cover photo that appears to be a close-up painting of a nude woman’s upper thigh links to the piece on President Obama’s citizenship proposal, but does not mention Malia Obama. One comment on his cover photo seems to mention it subtly, reading, “here in the us everyone is laughing at you hahaha.”
Kiprono claims to be currently studying at Oxford University in the UK, though website Legal Cheek attempted to confirm this with Oxford and the university “was unable to trace a record of Kiprono’s studies.”
The Daily Mail notes that this is not the first such proposition by a Kenyan: “In 2009, Kenyan shop owner Godwin Kipkemoi Chepkurgor offered Hillary Clinton 40 goats and 20 cows in return for daughter Chelsea’s hand in marriage.” Chelsea refused and has since gone on to marry American Marc Mezvinsky.