A Presidential Visit To Kenya

                             President Obama signs a visitors book after arriving in Kenyan airport alongside
                                                                  the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta.


I'm sure everyone  knows about President Obama's historic visit to Kenya both personally and presidentially. The last time he visited the East African country was back in 2006 as Senator Obama. The trip's focus is trade, gay rights and the commitment to fighting terror in East Africa.

Obama landed in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on Friday, and was greeted by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta with a handshake and embrace as he stepped off Air Force One.
  The President's half-sister Auma was also on the tarmac to welcome him and travel in the bespoke, bomb-proof presidential limousine, nicknamed 'The Beast', for the drive to the hotel in the city centre.

At dinner, the president was joined by more relatives, including the woman known as "Granny" or "Mama Sarah," who raised the president's deceased father.
President Obama, the first sitting U.S. president to visit Kenya held talks on trade and investment, and also security and counter-terrorism.

He also becomes the first U.S. leader to address the African Union when he travels on to Ethiopia on Sunday. Kenya means a lot to President Obama- here they call it his homecoming- and he has both his heritage and his legacy to consider late in his final term. His first engagement was a global entrepreneurial summit- better business and trade, not aid, are how he sees many Africans lifting themselves out of poverty.

But security remains America's top priority while al-Shabaab can still kill students in their dormitories. President Obama has promised tough talking on good governance, human rights and corruption.

Declaring Kenya at a "crossroads" between promise and peril, President Obama on Sunday pressed the nation of his father's birth to root out corruption, treat women and minorities as equal citizens, and take responsibility for its future.

Closing his historic visit with an address to the Kenyan people, Obama traced the arc of the country's evolution from colonialism to independence, as well as his own family's history there. Today, Obama said, young Kenyans are no longer constrained by the limited options of his grandfather, a cook for the country's former British rulers, or his father, who left to seek an education in America.

"Because of Kenya's progress-- because of your potential-- you can build your future right here, right now," Obama told the crowd of 4,500 packed into a sports arena in the capital of Nairobi. But the bluntly warned that Kenya must make "tough choices" to bolster its fragile democracy and fast-growing economy.

Obama's visit, captivated a country that views him as a local son. Many crowds lined the roadways to watch the presidential motorcade speed through the city Sunday, some climbing on rooftops to get a better view. The audience inside the arena chanted his name as he finished his remarks.

The president left Kenya Sunday afternoon, pausing longer than normal atop the stairs to Air Force One to wave to the crowd, a huge grin on his face. He arrived two hours later in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, where he met with diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in the evening.

Obama has written emotionally about his first visit to Kenya as a young man nearly 30 years ago, and he recounted many of those same memories in his remarks Sunday. The battered Volkswagen his sister drove. Meeting his brothers for the first time. The airport employee who recognized his last name.

"That was the first time that my name meant something," he said.

The president barely knew his father, who died in 1982 after leaving the U.S. to return to Kenya. However, Obama has numerous family members in the country, including his half-sister Auma Obama, who introduced her brother Sunday.

"He's one of us," she said. But we're happy to share him with the world."

The bulk of Obama's address was a candid commentary on the East African nation's future. He spent considerable time warning about the risks of government corruption, calling it an "anchor" that could weigh down the country's promising future.

"Too often here in Kenya corruption is tolerated because that's how it's always been done," he said. Here in Kenya, its time to change habits."

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has taken steps to tackle corruption by suspending four Cabinet secretaries and 16 other senior officials amid an investigation into allegations of dishonesty. Kenyatta has been under public pressure to address corruption following reviews of his 2 year old government that claimed his administration is more corrupt than previous administrations.

Obama urged an end to old tribal and ethnic divisions that are "doomed to tear our country apart." He spent significant time imploring Kenyans to respect the rights of women and girls, saying that marginalizing half of a country's population is "stupid." And he called for an end to forced marriages for girls who should otherwise be attending school and the tradition known as 'genital mutilation.'

"These traditions may date back centuries. They have no place in the 21st century," he said.

The president drew on the recent debate in the U.S. over the Confederate battle flag, a Civil War era relic that is seen by many as a racists symbol. The killing of nine people at a black church in South Carolina last month prompted a fresh debate over the flag, spurring some states to remove it from government grounds.

"Just because something is a part of your past doesn't make it right," Obama said.

Some of those in attendance for the president's speech said they were inspired by his appeal for progress in Kenya.

After his speech, Obama met with political opposition leaders, then with a group of African youth and civil leaders on ways to promote civil society efforts. He told the civil society group that "the country is going to be better off" if it can cultivate habits of public participation and freedom.

Obama is expected to offer similar messages about good governance and human rights during his two days of meetings with leaders in Ethiopia. Human rights groups have criticized the president for visiting the Horn of Africa nation, which is accused of cracking down on dissent, sometimes violently.

Obama planned meetings with Ethiopia's president and prime minister, and a separate session with regional leaders to discuss the situation in South Sudan, a young nation gripped by turmoil since civil war broke out in December 2013.

Countering the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab in neighboring Somalia also is on the agenda for Obama's meetings with Ethiopian leaders. The extremist threat was made clear Sunday when al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for a suicide truck bombing at a luxury hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, that killed eight people and shattered a period of calm in the city.

President Obama with his sister Auma and President Kenyatta.

A painting of President Obama and President Kenyatta of Kenya.

President Obama having dinner with his Kenyan family.

                                                        My Take

Though President Obama visited Kenya for political reasons, I think it was a splendid way to also just get to know more about himself and his heritage. I'm sure at the end of the day, this gave him the opportunity to carry his father's legacy of staying close to his family who were more than happy to see him after many years.

As a person from Kenyan and is a descendant to slaves, it made me realize how much you should value your culture and not to allow the past to discourage you. I mean who knew a poor family from Kenya would be related to the most famous president in the world. What I learned from this visit is that anything is possible if you set your heart and mind to it.

It also allowed me to learn more about a country I left when I was six years old. Ever since I started working on my book, I started understanding who I am and why I think the way I think because the past has a great effect on who a person is. This also made me proud feel proud of my small Kenyan heritage. Two weeks ago I was invited to a reception held by one of our councilman here in Milwaukee in which the governor and staff of a Kenyan city that I never heard of came to create a partnership with our city.

They were shocked and happy to hear that I was born in Kenya and hugged me with excitement. I was glad that they didn't think once about the fact that I was a Muslim. They were just proud to see a fellow Kenyan involved in an important governmental organization (the city's youth council). One of my relatives were telling me that she was insulted for being a Muslim because of  al-Shabaab's actions towards Kenya. And so I thought they would do the same to me. But in reality they didn't care about that and even asked to visit and stay connected with them. I've never been prouder of my country and the East African nation! God bless Africa. 

Pace, Julie. Obama: Kenya at 'crossroads' between peril and promise. July 26, 2015
http://news.yahoo.com/obama-close-historic-kenya-visit-national-address-042020108--politics.html


BBC Africa. President Obama starts two-day Kenya Visit. July 24, 2015
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-33656895


Aljazeera Politics. Obama lands in Kenya to euphoric welcome. July 25, 2015
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/07/obama-arrives-kenya-tight-security-150724163810652.html