Kampala — This is a moment that happens only once in a lifetime. In our lifetime, we have witnessed the election of an African American to the most powerful position on earth-the president of the United States of America.

When the moment came, we were sitting right here in my living room, me and Emily on one couch, Dr. Muniini Mulera and his wife Florence on the other, our son Oceng on the floor, and our son Ogaba sleeping against Muniini's chest. The moment came almost magically, unexpectedly, dreamlike, when CNN projected that Obama had been elected president of the United States.

We all jumped up, pumped the air with our clenched fists, hugs all around and ululated into the warm Newmarket night. There it was on the screen for the whole world to see-Obama elected president of the United States. But this was not just any candidate, not any run-of-the-mill man who wanted to try his luck in politics.

Obama's story will be told by many fine story-tellers as the son of an immigrant Kenyan and an American woman who was raised by his grandmother, the same grandmother who died on the eve of his victory.

This was the most unlikely candidate, and yet he won because he understood above all that America was ready to embrace change, and had the smarts to know how to sell his vision and his candidature to the American people.

He won because millions of Americans bought his dream, and dared to see what was inside a blackman's mind. At 11:18pm New York time, Senator John McCain strode onto the podium in Phoenix, Arizona and conceded defeat. He said: "A little while ago, I called Senator Obama to congratulate him on his success. He inspired many .." McCain added that America offers opportunity for all.

He nodded directly to Obama's achievement as the first African American to be elected president when he said: "We have come a long way from injustices that stained our nation Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for this nation."

McCain took personal responsibility for his defeat, noting that his campaign had not delivered the message that America wanted to hear or to embrace, but Obama had.

It was a moment of sheer humility, watching this man who only hours earlier had heaped scorn and abuse on Obama as a man who hangs out with terrorists and who does not appear to have any love for America. Yet, here was the same John McCain now standing before the world to pledge to work with President Barack Hussein Obama.

Obama himself came out about 40 minutes later to address thousands gathered in a park in Chicago, Illinois. He was humble as he always had been, extolling praise on John McCain as an American hero.

He spoke about many things, but the only thing I can remember was that I was mesmerised by his grace, his humility, his simplicity, his humanness. He did not possess the pomposity that often accompanies African leaders, big frogs in small ponds. He simply was an American that was going to do his best to right America.

That was it. He was joined on stage by his brilliant wife Michelle and the two girls. I know that their lives will never be the same again-they are now part of history, part of the American artifact, to be adored, analysed and dissected for hundreds of years to come. But tonight, it felt good being part of history.

As my brother-in-law Charles Mwaka of Danbury Connecticut put it so eloquently, it was like "man landing on the moon" or as my wife Emily suggested: "This was Uhuru for the world." Better yet, Emily, the kids and me will be going to Obama's inauguration in January in Washington.

You see, I became convinced that Obama would become president when I watched him speak live on March 18, 2008. He was defending his relationship with his pastor of 20 years, the Rev Jeremiah Wright.

The news of his association threatened to derail his bid for the presidency, yet Obama chose to confront it directly like no other politician ever had. It was long before he won the primary, long before he was officially nominated as the Democratic candidate.

On that day, I saw not a candidate but as man who had a date with destiny, a man who could not be thwarted or derailed from achieving his goal.

He was articulate to the point of soaring above the clouds with his sheer spoken words. I turned to my wife and told her that we needed to book a hotel in DC for Obama's inauguration. Now, my wife knows I come up with crazy ideas from time to time, but this day, she said simply: "Do it."

To cut a long story short, the next day, March 19, we booked a hotel in Washington for Obama's inauguration in January 2009, something we had no knowing would ever happen. Except we believed in this man, we believed that an African could rise above the filth and mud and dung thrown at him to stand tall and become the President of the United States.

It is a day to be celebrated, savoured, and cherished for the rest of one's natural life.