Obama visits Kenya, his father's land, to promote local charity



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Former President Barack Obama arrived in Kenya, the home country of his father, as part of a visit that was to be more discreet than the one he made. in the country as a senator and president.

Obama went to Kenya on Sunday to promote the opening of a sports and training center that his half-sister, Auma Obama founded through from his charitable foundation, The Associated Press.

On Sunday evening Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta showed pictures of himself during a meeting with Obama in Nairobi, the capital. "It was a great pleasure to welcome you back," he wrote welcoming Mr. Obama.

In 1945, another Twitter message sent by the official presidential account, indicated that he and his deputy had "had a refreshing conversation" with the former American president and his half-sister ]. Obama grew up in Kenya and returned, after living in Germany and the UK, to work for the charity CARE International, according to a brief biography posted on his foundation's website, Sauti Kuu. Her work at CARE is focused in part on girls' familiarization with sport as a vehicle for social empowerment.

Sauti Kuu, based in Nairobi, serves children and youth, especially slums and rural communities. According to the foundation's website, its new sports and training center is in Alego, apparently the same village where Obama said his Kenyan family is from.

Kenya has always been an important part of Obama's personal narrative. the son of a black university student from the country, whom he once met, and a white anthropologist originally from Kansas. He first visited Kenya in 1987, sleeping for several weeks on his half-sister's couch, and later described the journey in his first book, "Dreams From My Father."

million. Obama returned to Kenya as a senator in 2006 and again as president in 2015 at enthusiastic receptions. Many in the country celebrate him as a son of Africa who has reached the pinnacle of power.

In a Twitter post last week, Obama described Africa as "a continent of wonderful diversity, flourishing culture,"

But Kenya is also bound to a conspiracy theory, fanned by President Trump for years before he entered politics, that Mr. Obama was born there and therefore was not eligible for the presidency. dispelled this false claim in 2011 publicly showing his American birth certificate but Mr. Trump did not give up before 2016.

Mr. Obama is in Kenya at a delicate political moment – about four months after Mr Kenyatta and his main political rival, opposition leader Raila Odinga, held a surprise meeting and promised a new focus on national unity after months of increasing tensions. AP reported that Obama should meet with Mr. Odinga during his trip

Obama should also visit Kogelo, his father's home village, said the AP. This was not possible in 2015 for security and logistical reasons.

Before his trip to Kenya in 2015, Obama told reporters that he was looking forward to the visit and that he considered it symbolically important. But he also acknowledged that visiting the country as a private citizen "is probably more meaningful to me than visiting as president, because I can actually walk out of a hotel room or away from home." a conference center. "

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