BARACK OBAMA VISIT TO KENYA – HISTORICAL, YET EMOTIONAL -MIXED FEELINGS!!!

His infectious grin and his charismatic attire as he embraced his host President Uhuru Kenyatta and told “Happy to be Home”. Ululations and screams rented the air in Kenya capital Nairobi and  other cities around the country when television screams beamed images of US president Barack Obama emerging from Air force one and literally springing down the steps onto Kenyan soil. Barack Obama, the son of a Kenyan is the first sitting President of the United States to visit Kenya. “I’m proud to be the first US president to visit Kenya, and obviously this is personal for me” – these were the words during his recent visit.

Started off his first public engagement with the official opening of the global entrepreneurship summit in Gigiri, Nairobi and later laid a wreath at the memorial park at the site of the former US embassy that was bombed by terrorists in 1998.

The bilateral talks concentrated more on the counter terrorism and precisely on the fight against terror from Al Shabaab. Extending its support, US have released $100 Million as aid package for counter terrorism in 2015 to Kenya. The talks also centered on the stability in the region because of the current conflicts in South Sudan and Burundi. President Obama stressed his stand on the recent Burundi elections saying the elections were against the wishes of the majority and considered were not credible. He also announced that Kenya will be a part of the Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-Free, Mentored and safe initiative (DREAM), which will see the country will receive additional support to help fight AIDS and other communicable diseases. The extended talks also brought up the issues like Minority rights, Poverty & Malnutrition, Tourism and conservation and Infrastructure.

Not to miss the personal side of President Obama “Any Question of where he fits in the world has long since been answered. But how Kenya fits into his identity remains one of the enduring questions of his presidency.” As the world knows that, Obama has been celebrated as a son of Africa who reached the pinnacle of power and at the same time he also found himself besieged by a conspiracy theory that he had actually been born in Kenya and was therefore ineligible to be president- a theory he felt compelled to dispel by marching into the white house briefing room in 2011 with his birth certificate from Hawaii.

One of the questions from the media personnel, President Obama responded saying” Obviously Kenya holds a special place for me, the roots are from here “it might had been more convincing if he might had visited his Grand Mothers and Sr Obama’s home town Kendu Bay. Hundreds of local residents of the village expected and were well prepared to receive the supreme hero of Africa, but unfortunately emotions shattered. Even if one part of the audience say he is on official visit and can’t mix his personal emotions but other part says blessings from the elders is one of the important traditions to be fulfilled. Overall it’s a mixed feeling other than missing part of his visit to his father land; the positive side is the bilateral talks and the crucial agreements in Health and Energy sector from both the Countries.