Former President Obama on Monday urged Kenyan leaders to celebrate the nation’s diversity during a stop in the country to help launch an educational center run by his half-sister.
Obama’s visit to Kenya, where his late father was born, was his first since he left office. Reuters reported that he praised President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga for making progress in improving rifts between ethnic groups, but said that more still needs to be done.
“It means no longer seeing different ethnicities as enemies or rivals but rather as allies; in seeing the diversity of tribes not as a weakness but as a strength,” Obama said.
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The former U.S. president was in Kenya for the opening of a sports and training center established by his half-sister, Auma Obama.
Reuters reported that former President Obama made no mention of President Trump in his remarks. Trump inflamed tensions with African nations when he referred to them as “shithole countries” earlier this year.
Obama met Sunday with Kenyatta and is reportedly expected to meet with Odinga during his visit.
Though Obama was born in Hawaii and never lived in Kenya, he previously visited the country in 2006, while he was a U.S. senator from Illinois. He traveled to Kenya again in 2015 during his presidency.
Obama will travel to South Africa on Tuesday, where he will deliver remarks to commemorate what would have been Nelson Mandela’s 100th birthday.