Obama says Kenya at crossroads between 'peril and promise'

1	Barack Obama told Kenyans on Sunday there was "no limit to what you can achieve", but warned that corruption, terrorism and tribalism in his father’s home country left it at a crossroads between “peril and promise”.
2	“When it comes to the people of Kenya, particularly the youth, I believe there is no limit to what you can achieve," he told an audience largely dominated by schoolchildren and university students at a sports stadium in Nairobi.
3	"Because of Kenya's progress - because of your potential - you can build your future right here, right now."
4	He called for Kenyans to shrug off “bad” traditions holding it back, predominantly its treatment of women as “second class citizens”.
5	To the biggest cheers of his speech from the 4,500-strong crowd, he decried wife-beating, female genital mutilation and the decision by some parents with limited resources only to send their male children to school.
6	“Just because something's a tradition doesn't make it right.
7	These traditions may date back centuries.
8	They have no place in the 21st century,” said Mr Obama, who has two daughters.
9	“We're in a sports stadium.
10	Imagine if you didn't let half the team play.
11	Turning to Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya’s president, Mr Obama urged him not to be “too sensitive” as he returned to the theme of corruption that has dominated his historic 48-hour visit, describing it as “an anchor that weighs you down and prevents you from achieving what you should”.
12	"Corruption is not unique to Kenya, but the fact is too often corruption is tolerated because that's how things have always been done," he said.
13	Mr Kenyatta has suspended four Cabinet secretaries and 16 senior officials over allegations of graft but has also been accused by watchdogs of presiding over an administration more corrupt than any of his predecessors.
14	Since Mr Obama’s last speech in Nairobi in 2006, when he was an Illinois senator, Kenya has slid from 142 to 145 on the Corruption Perceptions Index.
15	Mr Obama noted that another issue he raised in his 2006 speech, tribal violence, had erupted the following year following disputed 2007 elections.
16	Watched by William Ruto, Kenya’s deputy president who is on trial at the International Criminal Court for his alleged involvement, Mr Obama said some still tried to “stir up” old enmities and urged his audience to adhere to the Kenyan concept of “Harambee”, meaning Pull Together.
17	He also vowed that as the first “Kenyan-American” president, he would ensure the US remained Kenya’s close “partner”.
18	“Kenya is at a crossroads, a moment filled with enormous peril but also enormous promise,” he said.
19	“It's my strong belief the future of Africa is up to Africans.
20	For too long many looked to the outside for salvation.
21	Rhoda Naserian, 21, a law student at the University of Nairobi, said she felt “inspired” by his words.
22	“The idea that my dreams can be realised here in Kenya is something that will stay with me,” she said.
23	Geff Waweru, 36, a garlic and onion farmer, applauded his call for female empowerment.
24	“I am father to a daughter and she is everything to me,” he said.
25	Auma Obama, who met the US president at the steps of Air Force One as he arrived on Friday, told the audience that Mr Obama was “my brother, your brother, our son.
26	Mr Obama met civil society groups and gave an interview to a local radio station interviewer who graduated from a US journalism fellowship before flying on to neighbouring Ethiopia last night.
27	Africa’s second-largest country, with a population of 90 million, Ethiopia has one of the region’s fastest-growing economies but is also presided over by a repressive government which routinely jails journalists and critics.
28	Mr Obama will also address the African Union and meet regional leaders who have been involved in mediation efforts in South Sudan, gripped by civil war since December 2013, and Burundi, where the refusal of President Pierre Nkurunziza to leave office after two terms provoked a constitutional crisis and saw thousands flee abroad.