Obama tells Kenyans they can succeed, sees challenges

“I don’t think that Kenyans think of Obama as African-American”.

Gregory says: “Obama has considerable influence here in Kenya”.

Obama’s schedule includes a Sunday address at a Nairobi stadium that will be broadcast live on Kenyan radio and television.

Obama’s own work as a community organizer “taught me the importance of ordinary people when they come together to create a better vision for the future”, he said.

“You can choose the path to progress, but it requires making some important choices”, he said in a speech to several thousand Kenyans packed into an indoor arena here in Kenya’s capital, a normally bustling place that largely has been on lockdown during Obama’s stay. However, its human rights record is not as bright.

“Treating women and girls as second-class citizens, those are bad traditions”. And he called for an end to forced marriages for girls who should otherwise be attending school and the tradition known as “genital mutilation”. “But here in Kenya it’s time to change habits”, Obama added, calling corruption “an anchor that weighs you down”.

Twenty-one-year-old Rhoda Naserian said she was delighted Obama addressed gender equality.

Ethiopians are very hospitable, this person said. “In many ways their lives offered snapshots of Kenya’s history, but they also told us something about the future”.

Obama also vowed the U.S. will intensify its cooperation with the Kenyan government in its ongoing battle against the terrorist group, al Shabaab.

After holding bilateral talks, President Obama and President Kenyatta said they were “united against terrorism”.

Among those the situation is landing hardest on is National Security Adviser Susan Rice, a former undersecretary of state for African Affairs under Bill Clinton who then was one of the most involved in the early days of South Sudan as Obama’s first United Nations ambassador.

The US would like to see Uganda encourage Mr Kiir to accept a “rational” deal, the official said. “He’s one of us”.

President Obama called on African nations Saturday (in Nairobi, Kenya) to confer equal rights to gays and lesbians, kicking off his first full day in the nation by undertaking a topic that remains highly sensitive on the continent.

That’s how Auma Obama described her brother’s first visit to Kenya almost three decades ago.

Obama also said during his first visit as president to his father’s homeland that Kenya had to tackle corruption by showing it was prosecuting culprits, saying it would spur growth. Watched by William Ruto, the deputy president who is on trial at the global Criminal Court for his alleged involvement, Mr Obama said some still tried to “stir up” enmities. “That’s not the case”, Obama joked, before dancing and singing with the dinner’s attendees.

Out of the question was a visit to Kogelo, where his father is buried, and Obama lamented that his quality time with his Kenyan family was so limited. We’re in a sports centre: imagine if you have a team and don’t let half of the team play. “Once we have overcome some of these challenges, we can begin to look at new ones”.

The president’s message on female oppression resonated with Josephine Kulea, a women’s rights activist who wore a radiant traditional African dress for the historic speech.