Arguments for eBay birth certificate fall short

By Jerome R. Corsi

An eBay seller who claims he has a birth certificate of Barack Obama issued in Kenya continues to maintain the document is authentic, despite evidence it is a forgery.

Lucas Smith has posted three videos on YouTube pressing his previous YouTube claim about his document.

Smith, whose background includes a lengthy criminal record and a reported attempt to sell his kidney to a man in need of an organ transplant, nonetheless insists his motives are above board.

He has repeatedly suggested in his various videos that he obtained the document by bribing Kenyan officials.

“I do have a background. I’ve made mistakes in my life,” Smith told WND in an e-mail. “It took a guy like me to go and get tangible proof about Obama. I don’t mind breaking a few laws or policies here and there. I don’t mind paying the military in foreign countries to look the other way. … The military [in Africa] will grant you access to anything for just a few dollars. People are starving. So yes, it takes a guy like me to get things done once in a while.”

As WND reported, administrators at Coast Province General Hospital in Mombasa said they had no knowledge of anyone at the hospital verifying a Barack Obama birth certificate, contrary to Smith’s claim.

So far, Smith has offered only partial views of the document in videos punctuated with scenes of a Third World country.

WND cannot confirm Smith’s whereabouts and has not been offered by Smith or his agents a clear and complete copy of the document.

In his most recent videos, Smith apparently has relied heavily upon comments posted on Free Republic in various threads, including here and here.

The Smith document appears to be a forgery for the following reasons:

  1. It lists “Coast Province Hospital” as the place of Obama’s birth, even though Kenyan news and government sources continue to dispute the reference of “Coast Province” or “Coast Provincial” to official government documents issued by the hospital in 1961.

    An enhanced version of Smith’s original YouTube video releasing the document has been published by Repubx.com.

    The enhanced video shows the hospital of birth listed as “Coast Province General Hospital,” followed by the designation of the hospital’s location as “Mombasa, British Protectorate of Kenya.”


    Source: Enhanced video of Smith document

    Kenyan sources have questioned the use of “Coast Province” or “Coast Provincial” as a correct reference to the official name of the Mombasa general public hospital in 1961, because Mombasa was part of Zanzibar at that time.

    Various posters on Free Republic have noted the reference to “Coast Province General Hospital” appears in various medical journals and books published in the early 1960s, including several articles published by Philip P. Turner, M.D., who typically indicated he was affiliated with Coast Province General Hospital.

    Despite the references, Kenyan newspapers have cited various Kenyan academic and government sources to establish: 1) that Mombasa was part of Zanzibar until Dec. 12, 1963, not a coastal province of Kenya; 2) that Kenya became an independent nation Dec. 12, 1963, and was considered the Dominion of Kenya until Dec. 12, 1964; and 3) that Kenya was not the Republic of Kenya until Dec. 12, 1964.

  2. In 1960, Dr. James O.W. Ang’awa, the attending physician named in the Smith document, took over Port Reitz tuberculosis hospital, a few miles from Coast Province General Hospital, but no documentation has been found that Ang’awa ever delivered babies at Coast Province General Hospital.

    Source: Enhanced video of Smith document
  3. Coast Province General Hospital refuses to verify that Helton Muganga actually certified the document, even though the document displays a stamp and purported signature.

Source: Enhanced video of Smith document

Smith’s asserts Coast Province General Hospital refuses to authenticate the document because of political or other pressure in Kenya.

His document also has a certification number listed, yet he makes no attempt at independent corroboration of the document by locating or identifying the official birth register in which the Kenyan government must acknowledge the document is genuine.

Other issues disputed by Smith amount to little more than quibbles.

The dates on the document are formatted in U.S. style, listing in order the month, day and year. This is not the British format, which typically follows the order of day, month and year.

Smith rejoined that Kenyans used both date formats interchangeably in 1961.

The format of one of the dates on the document is not determinable, because the date is listed as 8/8/1961:


Source: Enhanced video of Smith document

Another issue is the single, ink-saturated footprint on the Smith document:

  • The footprint on the document appears nearly perfect in definition; real infant footprints typically show signs of smudging because of foot movement.
  • The footprint on the document is densely black, revealing few natural lines on the sole of the foot. Footprints used for document identification are typically inked much lighter to allow for natural lines to be clearly apparent.
  • Footprints taken for document identification are typically taken for both feet, just as fingerprints taken for identification are typically taken for both hands.

Smith now attributes the darkness of the footprint to the fact his document is a photocopy in which the print appears darker than the original.

But copies of infant footprints can be produced in which the lines on both feet of the baby are clear and distinct even though the image is reproduced from the original.


Source: Unique Baby Gear Ideas

As WND previously disclosed, sources in Kenya have reported it is unlikely any 1961 birth certificate for President Obama will ever be found at Coast Provincial Hospital in Mombasa, even if one originally existed.

Administrators and doctors there told WND sources that in 2004 a high-level team of Kenya’s National Security Intelligence Service came to the hospital and seized all files containing birth certificate documents from the years 1960 through 1963.

According to the administrators and doctors interviewed at the hospital, Kenya’s National Security Intelligence Service returned the seized files to the hospital four months later. Hospital officials were able to determine that records were missing or altered.

Still, should Smith provide WND with a complete and clearly legible copy of his alleged Obama birth certificate, WND is willing to request in writing either verification or denial of its authenticity from Coast Province General Hospital.



Jerome R. Corsi

Jerome R. Corsi, a Harvard Ph.D., is a WND senior staff writer. He has authored many books, including No. 1 N.Y. Times best-sellers "The Obama Nation" and "Unfit for Command." Corsi's latest book is "Partners in Crime." Read more of Jerome R. Corsi's articles here.


Arguments for eBay birth certificate fall short

By Jerome R. Corsi

An eBay seller who claims he has a birth certificate of Barack Obama issued in Kenya continues to maintain the document is authentic, despite evidence it is a forgery.

Lucas Smith has posted three videos on YouTube pressing his previous YouTube claim about his document.

Smith, whose background includes a lengthy criminal record and a reported attempt to sell his kidney to a man in need of an organ transplant, nonetheless insists his motives are above board.

He has repeatedly suggested in his various videos that he obtained the document by bribing Kenyan officials.

“I do have a background. I’ve made mistakes in my life,” Smith told WND in an e-mail. “It took a guy like me to go and get tangible proof about Obama. I don’t mind breaking a few laws or policies here and there. I don’t mind paying the military in foreign countries to look the other way. … The military [in Africa] will grant you access to anything for just a few dollars. People are starving. So yes, it takes a guy like me to get things done once in a while.”

As WND reported, administrators at Coast Province General Hospital in Mombasa said they had no knowledge of anyone at the hospital verifying a Barack Obama birth certificate, contrary to Smith’s claim.

So far, Smith has offered only partial views of the document in videos punctuated with scenes of a Third World country.

WND cannot confirm Smith’s whereabouts and has not been offered by Smith or his agents a clear and complete copy of the document.

In his most recent videos, Smith apparently has relied heavily upon comments posted on Free Republic in various threads, including here and here.

The Smith document appears to be a forgery for the following reasons:

  1. It lists “Coast Province Hospital” as the place of Obama’s birth, even though Kenyan news and government sources continue to dispute the reference of “Coast Province” or “Coast Provincial” to official government documents issued by the hospital in 1961.

    An enhanced version of Smith’s original YouTube video releasing the document has been published by Repubx.com.

    The enhanced video shows the hospital of birth listed as “Coast Province General Hospital,” followed by the designation of the hospital’s location as “Mombasa, British Protectorate of Kenya.”


    Source: Enhanced video of Smith document

    Kenyan sources have questioned the use of “Coast Province” or “Coast Provincial” as a correct reference to the official name of the Mombasa general public hospital in 1961, because Mombasa was part of Zanzibar at that time.

    Various posters on Free Republic have noted the reference to “Coast Province General Hospital” appears in various medical journals and books published in the early 1960s, including several articles published by Philip P. Turner, M.D., who typically indicated he was affiliated with Coast Province General Hospital.

    Despite the references, Kenyan newspapers have cited various Kenyan academic and government sources to establish: 1) that Mombasa was part of Zanzibar until Dec. 12, 1963, not a coastal province of Kenya; 2) that Kenya became an independent nation Dec. 12, 1963, and was considered the Dominion of Kenya until Dec. 12, 1964; and 3) that Kenya was not the Republic of Kenya until Dec. 12, 1964.

  2. In 1960, Dr. James O.W. Ang’awa, the attending physician named in the Smith document, took over Port Reitz tuberculosis hospital, a few miles from Coast Province General Hospital, but no documentation has been found that Ang’awa ever delivered babies at Coast Province General Hospital.

    Source: Enhanced video of Smith document
  3. Coast Province General Hospital refuses to verify that Helton Muganga actually certified the document, even though the document displays a stamp and purported signature.

Source: Enhanced video of Smith document

Smith’s asserts Coast Province General Hospital refuses to authenticate the document because of political or other pressure in Kenya.

His document also has a certification number listed, yet he makes no attempt at independent corroboration of the document by locating or identifying the official birth register in which the Kenyan government must acknowledge the document is genuine.

Other issues disputed by Smith amount to little more than quibbles.

The dates on the document are formatted in U.S. style, listing in order the month, day and year. This is not the British format, which typically follows the order of day, month and year.

Smith rejoined that Kenyans used both date formats interchangeably in 1961.

The format of one of the dates on the document is not determinable, because the date is listed as 8/8/1961:


Source: Enhanced video of Smith document

Another issue is the single, ink-saturated footprint on the Smith document:

  • The footprint on the document appears nearly perfect in definition; real infant footprints typically show signs of smudging because of foot movement.
  • The footprint on the document is densely black, revealing few natural lines on the sole of the foot. Footprints used for document identification are typically inked much lighter to allow for natural lines to be clearly apparent.
  • Footprints taken for document identification are typically taken for both feet, just as fingerprints taken for identification are typically taken for both hands.

Smith now attributes the darkness of the footprint to the fact his document is a photocopy in which the print appears darker than the original.

But copies of infant footprints can be produced in which the lines on both feet of the baby are clear and distinct even though the image is reproduced from the original.


Source: Unique Baby Gear Ideas

As WND previously disclosed, sources in Kenya have reported it is unlikely any 1961 birth certificate for President Obama will ever be found at Coast Provincial Hospital in Mombasa, even if one originally existed.

Administrators and doctors there told WND sources that in 2004 a high-level team of Kenya’s National Security Intelligence Service came to the hospital and seized all files containing birth certificate documents from the years 1960 through 1963.

According to the administrators and doctors interviewed at the hospital, Kenya’s National Security Intelligence Service returned the seized files to the hospital four months later. Hospital officials were able to determine that records were missing or altered.

Still, should Smith provide WND with a complete and clearly legible copy of his alleged Obama birth certificate, WND is willing to request in writing either verification or denial of its authenticity from Coast Province General Hospital.



Jerome R. Corsi

Jerome R. Corsi, a Harvard Ph.D., is a WND senior staff writer. He has authored many books, including No. 1 N.Y. Times best-sellers "The Obama Nation" and "Unfit for Command." Corsi's latest book is "Partners in Crime." Read more of Jerome R. Corsi's articles here.