By Andrew Ehrenkranz 

credit: Simon Maina / AFP-Getty Images

When Barack Obama visited Kenya in 2006, a local beer called Senator promptly became a bestseller. Indeed, so closely did the beverage become associated with the U.S. presidential contender that visitors nowadays don’t even need to get the name right—just ask at a local bar for a cold Obama and they’ll know exactly what to serve you.

Obama is a revered figure here in Kenya, where his father, also called Barack, grew up in the tiny village of Kogelo, near Lake Victoria. And even as Kenya’s post-election turmoil continues to claim lives, the citizens of this African nation are keeping up with the political fortunes of their favorite son. They’re gratified that he’s keeping up with theirs too. Indeed, with a ban on live news broadcasts keeping the rumor mill well fed, some even believe that the Illinois senator is actively intervening to help forge a political solution to the violent outbursts following the country’s disputed Dec. 27 ballot. He isn’t, given that he’s kind of busy right now, but Sammy Nyongesa, a member of the presidential campaign team for Raila Odinga says his boss has been in email contact with the American senator. According to Nyongesa, Obama wrote to Odinga—who is protesting the victory claims by incumbent President Mwai Kibaki in an election widely considered irregular—asking Odinga to persuade his supporters to bring peace. Odinga’s response: “I’m doing what I can.”