Obama in Africa: I’m proud to be first Kenyan-American president

To a mixture of applause and laughter, Obama described being picked up at the airport on his first visit to Kenya in the 1980s by his sister in an old VW Beetle that often broke down.

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

“Just because something is a tradition doesn’t mean it’s right”, he told the audience. “These traditions may date back centuries, they have no place in the 21st century”.

“We actually surprised ourselves”, Boinnet said, asserting that Kenyan security officials were able to keep up with the demands of the US Secret Service.

Obama told Kenyatta during the press conference that gay people must be treated equally under the law – or else “bad things” will happen – pleading with his Kenyan counterpart to readdress his country’s current legislation on LGBT rights. When a Supreme Court decision legalized gay marriage in the United States last month, Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe remarked that he would take the opportunity to propose marriage to Obama himself.

However, he praised the country for emerging from the ethnic violence that erupted after the disputed 2007 election.

Throughout his two-day trip, Obama has tried to bridge two constituencies: Americans reexamining their stereotypes of Africa, and Africans hoping for a better future.

The US President is to conclude his visit to Kenya with a televised address at the Kasarani sports stadium in the capital, Nairobi.

“Kenya is at a crossroads, a moment filled with peril but enormous promise”, he said. “Progress requires that you honestly confront the dark corners of our own past”. Obama joked that he suspects some of his U.S. critics believed he was back in Kenya “to look for my birth certificate”.

Geff Waweru, 36, a garlic and onion farmer, applauded his call for female empowerment. “What can I say?”, she said. “I really don’t know”.

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’s one of us”.

Although Sauti Sol seemed to have full confidence in Obama’s abilities, it seems he might have had some doubters as the group captioned the video, “And for those who doubted President @barackobama’s step – the #LipalaDance #SuraYako is his new favorite Kenyan dance!”