Mark Ndesandjo half-brother of Barack Obama

Obama's half-brother

CANTON (China) - Mark Ndesandjo, half-brother of Barack Hussein Obama who lives in Shenzhen, southern China, who had remained silent so far on his relationship with the U.S. president, spoke Wednesday about their violent father.

•     "My father beat me. He beat my mother. We simply can not do that," he said at a press conference Wednesday at the American Chamber of Commerce in Guangzhou, in the presence of the General Consul of the United States on the occasion of the release of his book.
  
      Mark Ndesandjo who lives in China since 2002, publishes "From Nairobi to Shenzhen," one year after the election of his half-brother.
  
      The Kenyan father of Barack Obama has separated from his wife when the child was only two and the U.S. president spoke about the difficulties of a childhood without a father.
  
      Mark Ndesandjo, who did not specify his age, is the son of the third wife of his father, Ruth Nidesand. But he never used the name of his parent and had not even discussed this relationship with his family, until the media revealed it.
  
      Presenting a strong resemblance to his brother Barack - his face and voice - Mark Okoth Ndesandjo Obama, recounts how scenes from the evening of the election helped him reconcile with many issues, "including the name Obama."
  
      "I saw all the hope and joy in people's eyes. I was so proud of my brother Barack. This has removed the harshness that I felt during all these years," he said.
  
      His novel, which would be an autobiography, tells the story of a man forced to confront his past, in Kenya and in the United States after arriving in China after September 11, 2001.
  
      A graduate of the prestigious Stanford and Brown universities, he said he left the United States after losing his job at a time when he sought a direction to his life.
  
      He now devotes himself in Shenzhen to music and is a consultant for Chinese exporters.
  
      Asked what he would say to his brother before his first visit to China in November 15, Ndesandjo Mark replied: "I would encourage my brother, President Obama, to understand that family is central in China."
  
      
  Ennaharonline/ M. Oudina