Obama was introduced by African Union chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, who said he climbed the “mount Everest of American politics” to become the first black president.
“The future of Africa is up to Africans”, Obama said during a trip to Kenya and Ethiopia that concluded Tuesday. He also placed a priority on national security and peace, pledging U.S. support to fight terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, al-Shabab, and Boko Haram, and announced his plans to secure a more global peacekeeping support for Africa at a United Nations summit in September.
His step-grandmother told reporters that she urged him to come to the family village to pray at his father’s grave.
“There were some powerful speeches that really touched a nerve”. We’ve got equal rights for gays.
He was applauded as he called for an end to corruption, female genital mutilation and child marriage on the continent.
But he didn’t stop there. “The point is I don’t understand why people want to stay so long, especially when they’ve got a lot of money”.
The US president was speaking after talks with Ethiopia’s PM Hailemariam Desalegn, during the first ever visit by a US president to the East African state. “Robert Mugabe, president for life in Zimbabwe”, says Connell.
“Africa’s democratic progress is also at risk when leaders refuse to step aside when their terms end”.
In the end, President Barack Obama may have gotten closer to the bones of ancient mankind than he did to ordinary Africans on what was probably his last trip to Africa as president.
“When a leader tries to change the rules in the middle of the game just to stay in office, it risks instability and strife, as we’ve seen in Burundi“, Obama said.
Yet, President Obama continues to be strategic about how he represents his race, genealogy and his commitment to promote and sustain African freedom and empowerment.
But after several years of corrupt leaders who hide behind nationalist demagoguery to justify their pursuit of absolute powers, many people in several Latin American autocracies want more rule of law, and more democracy. “Not even the president”.
“I’m still a pretty young man, but I know that someone with new insights and new energy will be good for my country“, Obama said.
Nothing will unlock Africa’s economic potential more than ending the cancer of corruption.
“Africa’s progress will depend on democracy because Africans, like people everywhere, deserve the dignity of being in control of their own lives”, Obama said.
“There was an interesting moment at a press conference on Saturday in Kenya, where Obama himself said that he thinks George Bush’s PEPFAR program combatting HIV/AIDS in Africa is one of the best things any US administration has done for decades”, says Smith.
Rights groups had warned that Obama’s visit could add credibility to a government they accuse of suppressing democratic rights including the jailing of journalists and critics with anti-terrorism legislation said to be used to stifle peaceful dissent.
