The U.S President Barack Obama arrived in Kenya on Friday on the first visit to his ancestral home as serving US president.
During his two-day visit Obama will hold talks with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and other top officials.
Trade will feature strongly, but Obama also said he would deliver a “blunt message” to African leaders about gay rights and discrimination.
The trip to Kenya and then Ethiopia is also designed to show US commitment to fighting terror in East Africa.
Obama dined with his step grandmother, his sister and other extended family members after arriving in Kenya for his first presidential visit to his father’s homeland on Friday.
Obama’s plane, Air Force One, landed in the evening in the Kenyan capital, where he will co-host a conference on boosting entrepreneurs in Africa before traveling on to Ethiopia.
After being greeted by President Uhuru Kenyatta and other top Kenyan officials, Obama was whisked through the capital.
Hours before Obama’s arrival, police blocked major roads and emptied streets of traffic in the usually congested capital as part of a huge security operation.
In the darkness, excited Kenyans lined parts of the route to his hotel, cheering as Obama’s motorcade passed by.
Once at his hotel, the president sat down with the woman he calls “Granny,” also called “Mama Sarah,” who helped raise his now deceased father as a child.
Obama’s half sister Auma Obama and a few dozen other extended family members related were also present.
Wearing a suit and tie, he chatted amiably with the large family seated at long tables at a restaurant inside the hotel where he is staying.
Obama’s family connection to Kenya has cast a trip that is otherwise likely to focus on trade and counterterrorism issues in a personal light. He is not expected to travel to the village where his father is buried.
Kenya is a vital …Read More
Source:: New Mail
