Among many things, Obama reportedly discussed gay rights in Kenya – an issue that has come to the spotlight at varying times because of the treatment of gay people in the country – where homosexuality is outlawed. What if Kenyatta goes to America and says it should abolish the death penalty?
Advertisement
Describing himself as the first Kenyan American president, Obama “spoke frankly to Kenyans as only a member of the family can”, notes the Los Angeles Times.
On Saturday, viewers and readers were treated to a charade as American journalist Jeff Mason was used to pose the gay rights question to both Presidents Obama and Kenyatta. Ezekiel Oduor, an accountant, said Obama was “candid and clear” about Kenya’s problems with corruption and his desire to help the country rise “to the next level”.
“Maybe once, like you have overcome some of these challenges, we can begin to look at new ones”.
“Climbing Kilimanjaro seems like something that should be on my list of things to do once I get out of here”. “Other mothers have named their girls after Obama’s family in the U.S”.
On this trip, Auma Obama said, it was her brother who gave her a ride from that same airport in the “Beast”, the armored limousine shipped over from the U.S. before the president arrives in a country.
US President Barack Obama wraps up a two-day landmark visit to Kenya yesterday, boosting business and security ties but with firm messages on gay rights and corruption.
“Secret Service generally doesn’t like me climbing mountains”, Obama said in an interview on Kenyan radio station Capital FM.
Acknowledging that some Kenyans have been frustrated that it took him until the seventh year of his presidency to visit, Obama joked that he did not want the rest of Africa to think he was “playing favorites”. Postponing an issue does not create any solution, as Obama said marginalize some in a community, over time it will manifest into something else. Officials are particularly sensitive to criticism that Obama’s Africa policies pale in comparison to his predecessor, George W. Bush, who launched a multibillion-dollar HIV/AIDS program.
He met and married President Obama’s mother when he was an exchange student in Hawaii but then left them to return to Kenya when Obama was still a small child.
Several multinational giants also participated in the summit and announced their desire to enlarge their footprint in Kenya and the wider Sub-Saharan Africa region.
Obama will stay in Ethiopia until Tuesday when he heads back to the US.
“It is very hard for us to impose on people what they themselves do not accept”, he said.
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 here.
Advertisement
“You are poised to play a bigger role in this world, as the shadows of the past are replaced by the light that you offer to an increasingly interconnected world”, Obama said.
