Charles Otieno in Nairobi

Charles Otieno in Nairobi

Honking of taxis, shouting, chanting and dancing is how Kenyan residents marked the announcement that Barack Obama had won the US presidential elections.

The Kibera slums in Nairobi and the sleepy Kogelo village in Western Kenya, where Obama's father was born, woke to thunderous jubilation minutes after John McCain conceded defeat.

Tears flowed freely in Kisumu City as Obama took to the podium.

But the mother of all celebrations came from Kisumu City residents who poured on to the streets in hundreds after Obama addressed the nation.

Bicycle taxi operators, known as boda bodas, rode around the lakeside city of Kisumu in honour of president-elect Obama.

And reading the mood of the people, President Mwai Kibaki addressed the country and announced that today will be a public holiday for Kenyans to continue celebrating.

Soon after Kibaki's address a Kenya Power and Lighting lorry rushed to Obama's grandmother's homestead to put up a transformer for supplying power - the village has no electricity.

The house tightly guarded and has it has its own mini police station .