Obama touched the nerve of Africa's problems

Obama touched the nerve of Africa's problems

President Obama's recent first visit to Sub-Saharan Africa and Ghana in particular since taking office seeks to boost the continent of his ancestors-outlining his hope for a future Africa prospering in democracy.

I witnessed this historic episode as I was part of a visiting delegation from the Parliament of Uganda to the Parliament of Ghana. Indeed, this extraordinary experience was every inch inspiring. On July 10 just after 9p.m. local time, Air Force One with the 44th American President on board, touched the ground at Kotoka International Airport. Out came the much-awaited President Barack Obama, the First Lady Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha.

As they stepped off the jet, President John Atta Mills of Ghana and his wife led dignitaries along a red carpet, wearing flamboyant costumes.

On arrival, the United States' President and his family were greeted by a rush of excitement from multitude of fans and followers. People lined the streets, many waving at every vehicle of Obama's motorcade that passed under hovering military helicopters. The convoy headed for a meeting at Osu Castle, the storied coastline Presidential State House.

Many billboards lined the roads, including one that showed the President and his wife with the greeting "Ghana loves you". Many brandished U.S flags while others sold posters and T-shirts with Obama's portrait.

Nonetheless, in his speech shortly on arrival, Obama urged Africans to embrace and cuddle a future of accountable leaders and open markets. He pitched a sobering account of Africa's lasting afflictions: hunger, disease, corruption, ethnic strife and strongman rule. But his speech was also a splash of cold water for Africans still nursing the grievances over colonial rule.

Selecting Ghana as the starting point of his black Africa travels, the President sought to highlight a continental success story based on Ghana's democratic gains. "Countries that are governed well, that are stable, where the leadership recognises that they are accountable and that institutions are stronger than any one person, have a track record of producing results for the people", President Obama said.

This positive attribute and sentiment led Obama to avoid his father's native Kenya for this stop. Tensions in Kenya and Zimbabwe reigned supreme after disputed Presidential election results and subsequent violence and ethnic bloodshed.

Obama held talks with Mills, who took over from longtime leader John Kufour in January 2009, a peaceful democratic hand over all too rare in Africa. Obama, who flew to West Africa after the G-8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, approved a new $20 billion food security plan. It aims at helping poor nations in Africa and elsewhere avert starvation during the global recession.

While the people of Ghana were in a frenzy over Obama's visit, he too, followed in Clinton's footsteps. In 1998, a surging crowd cheered Clinton in Accra's Independence Square and toppled barricades after his speech.

Bush's reception last year was less tumultuous, but equally warm. At a welcoming banquet, Kufuor named a highway after Bush. Earlier, Bush hosted Kufuor at one of his White House State dinners.

Obama's fortress visit mirrored those paid by Clinton and Bush to Ghana, with his added impact of mixed race background and the history-making election.

Obama, son of a Kenyan father and white mother from Kansas, first toured Africa in 1992. In his book "Dreams from my Father," he recalled running his hand over his father's burial plot. "I had sat at my father's grave and spoken to him through Africa's red soil", he wrote.

Obama's visit to Ghana was indeed a triumphant entry into the Sub-Saharan Africa and the U.S hopes that President Obama's decision to visit Ghana will spur other African governments to try and emulate Ghana's democratic and good governance records.

The writer is Youth MP-Northern Region.