PEOPLE in Barack Obama's ancestral home are preparing for a sleepless night as they watch the US elections.
Reporters have descended on the small village in western Kenya, nestled in the hills about 60 kilometres from the blue waters of Lake Victoria.
Draped over the road that connects the village to Kisumu, the main town of the region, a banner offers tickets for an all-night screening of the election.
"Watch the American presidential election 2012 on big screen" the advert reads, and, despite even the cheapest ticket costing some $US12 ($A11.63) - about a week's wages for a casual labourer - that has not dampened enthusiasm.
"I'm going to watch the election all night long... it's expensive but I'll manage," said Mary Manyala Ohito, a health worker.
In the courtyard of the nearby primary school - renamed after Obama following a visit in 2006 when he was a senator - a giant screen will also be set up, with free access for the local residents.
Sarah Obama - 90 this year, and the third wife of the paternal grandfather of Barack Obama - still lives in Kogelo. While the president shares no blood with Mama Sarah, he has said he regards her as his grandmother.
Mama Sarah ventured outside her house for a few minutes to pray for the reelection of her grandson.
"I pray for him, for God to help him," she said during an improvised press conference at her garden.
"It is a tough race so I have prayed for him. If this is his turn (to win again), God will let him triumph," she added in her native Dholuo language.
Another family member speaks of the family's expectations on the outcome of the vote.
"We'll be staying together with the family watching it together until the result is announced," said Said Hussein Obama, an uncle of the president. "We expect he's going to win."
Obama has raised the profile of the village.
"He has put Kogelo on the world map," said the uncle.
Some are a little disappointed not to have seen the president since his election, with Ohito wistfully saying she hopes "he will come".
During his four years in office, Obama has not visited Kenya.
"Maybe if he's re-elected he will tour Africa," his uncle says. "I don't say he is going to come to Kogelo, but Kenya will be one of those countries he's going to visit."
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