HARARE - Newspapers in Zimbabwe's major cities are selling like hot cakes after reports suggesting that United States First Lady Michelle Obama's father was born in Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe (UMP).

Fraser Robinson, Michelle's father was a plumber in Zimbabwe's capital city, Harare,then Salisbury in the colonial era. He worked for a pipe manufacturing firm,Robinson and Sons Pvt Co, thus where he got his surname, Robinson. Reports from the sources suggest his surname was Magwere (maize cobs in English) of the Soko totem (monkey). Mr Robinson is said to have left for America with the owner of the firm with wife Marian before Zimbabwe gained its independence from Britain. Some reports suggest that Marian, Michelle's mother wanted is a war veteran who participated in the war of liberation which was led by current Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.

Now residents in UzumbaMarambaPfungwe, say Barack Obama should pay bride price (lobola) to them as their brother is now dead. Reports suggest that the First Lady never visited Zimbabwe in her teens but her father visited in 1989 before he passed away in 1991.

Villagers in the poverty stricken and drought prone district welcomed the reports and said they were expecting the MaObama to visit them.The elderly women said the fact that MaObama is peace loving and a philanthropist was not surprising as her granny, Gogo Magwere housed orphans of the liberation struggle.

The reports comes barely after reports which confirmed that he was born of a Kenyan father.Analyst say that the fact that the White House is being headed by Africans does not mean there is hope for the roots of the Obamas.

Some residents claimed that Michelle's father might not have told her that her roots are from Zimbabwe because if she knew she would have intervened in building social amenities in the area. Analyst suggested otherwise,they concurred that the fact that Michelle and Barack Obama have their navels seeded in Africa doesn't change the fact that they are American citizens who abide by the law of that nation and follow the rulebook when providing aid in Africa.

It remains to be seen if the American First Family will visit Zimbabwe and visit Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe (UMP) and shower them with some Obamas (US dollars' as they are called in rural Zimbabwe).


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