Obama won’t be visiting relatives’ village during Kenya visit, says ambassador

NAIROBI (AFP) — US President Barack Obama won’t be visiting his Kenyan relatives in their home village in the west of the country during his trip to Kenya later this month, the US ambassador said.

 

“I can confirm that unfortunately President Barack Obama will not travel to Kogelo during his visit to Kenya,” Robert Godec told Kenya’s KTN news channel in an interview late Thursday.

Obama is scheduled to give a speech to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Nairobi, which opens on July 24. He is due to continue his Africa tour with a visit to neighbouring Ethiopia, which is also the seat of the African Union.

Obama’s visit will be his fourth to Africa since becoming US president, but his first to Kenya, his father’s birthplace, since taking office in 2009. He has already made personal visits to Kogelo, the home of many of his Kenyan relatives, most recently in 2006.

Security is a major concern for the visit, with the Somali-led and Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shebab rebels carrying out frequent attacks in Kenya.

Earlier this week the United States warned its citizens in Kenya of the risk of terrorist attacks, singling out the conference that Obama is due to address.