Obama in Africa
July 11, 2009
US President Barack Obama, visiting sub-Saharan Africa for the first time since he took office, told Ghana's parliament on Saturday that western aid must be matched by good governance and urged his audience to take greater responsibility for stamping out the war, corruption and disease plaguing the continent.
Obama was on a 24-hour visit to Ghana. He said he chose stable, democratic Ghana because he believes it can serve as a model for the rest of Africa.
Obama came from Italy, where he had been attending the Group of Eight summit in L'Aquila, and had an audience with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, and flew overnight to the Ghanaian capital, Accra.
Yes, we can!
Ghanaians, many dressed in Obama t-shirts, packed into the streets of Accra in hope of glimpsing the president. But security was very tight and no public events had been planned.
Before Obama began to address the Ghanaian parliament, MP's chanted "yes, we can," the president's well-known campaign slogan. During his substantial speech, long by western standards, yet fairly brief by African, Obama said that Africa's future is up to Africans:
"I say this knowing full well the tragic past that has sometimes haunted this part of the world. I have the blood of Africa within me, and my family's own story encompasses both the tragedies and triumphs of the larger African story."
Self-responsibility was a theme he reiterated.
"Make no mistake: history is on the side of these brave Africans, and not with those who use coups or change constitutions to stay in power….With better governance, I have no doubt that Africa holds the promise of a broader base for prosperity."
Youth holds the key
He had a special message for young people:
"You have the power to hold your leaders accountable, and to build institutions that serve the people. You can serve in your communities, and harness your energy and education to create new wealth and build new connections to the world. You can conquer disease, end conflicts, and make change from the bottom up."
And, echoing his slogan once more, he repeated his mantra,
"You can do that. Yes, you can."
After delivering the keynote speech, the president, who is travelling with his family, paid an emotional visit to a former slave trading fortress. The Obama family was taken on a guided tour of Cape Coast Castle, the starting place of a long, inhuman and often deadly journey to the Americas for hundreds of thousand of slaves in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Obama said the tour was a "moving experience... a moving moment."
The Obamas were led to the fort's notorious "door of no return," from which those being taken away had a last look at the continent they would never see again.
"As painful as it is, I think that it helps to teach all of us that we have to do what we can to fight against the kinds of evils that sadly still exist in our world, not just on this continent but in every corner of the globe," Obama told reporters as he concluded his official visit.
A large crowd gave President Obama a rapturous send off from Accra airport before he and his family began the flight back to their present home, the White House, in Washington D.C., a mansion built by slave labor at the end of the 18th century.
td/AFP/AP/dpa/Reuters