Obama hoping to visit Mandela in hospital

US President Barack Obama flies to South Africa today hoping to pay homage to Nelson Mandela, who is critically ill in hospital.

Obama hoping to visit Mandela in hospital

US President Barack Obama flies to South Africa today hoping to pay homage to Nelson Mandela, who is critically ill in hospital.

Mandela, who turns 95 next month, was rushed to hospital three weeks ago with a recurrent lung infection and has since appeared close to death.

On the eve of the visit, South Africa's first black president was said to be in a critical condition, but had stabilised since a scare forced his successor Jacob Zuma to cancel a trip to neighbouring Mozambique.

South Africans, including Mandela's family, remain braced for the worst.

Mr Mandela’s precarious condition adds some uncertainty to Mr Obama's agenda.

In Senegal, President Obama urged African leaders to extend equal rights to gays and lesbians.

But he was bluntly rebuked by Senegal’s president, who said his country “still isn’t ready” to decriminalise homosexuality.

Mr Obama opened his week-long trip to Africa a day after the US Supreme Court expanded federal benefits for married gay couples.

In his first comments on the ruling, Mr Obama said the court’s decision marked a “proud day for America”, and he pressed for similar recognition for gays in Africa, wading into a sensitive area in a region where dozens of countries outlaw homosexuality and a few punish violations with death.

“When it comes to how the state treats people, how the law treats people, I believe that everybody has to be treated equally,” Mr Obama said during a news conference with Senegalese President Macky Sall at the presidential palace in Dakar.

But Mr Sall gave no ground. Senegal is “very tolerant,” he assured Mr Obama, but is “still not ready to decriminalise homosexuality”.

He said countries make decisions on complex issues in their own time, noting that Senegal has outlawed capital punishment while other countries have not – a jab at the US, where the death penalty is legal in many states.

Mr Obama’s trip, which also includes stops in South Africa and Tanzania, marks the most extensive visit to Africa by the first black US president since he took office.

Many Africans have expressed disappointment over Mr Obama’s lack of direct engagement with affairs on their continent – particularly given that his father was Kenyan and he has many relatives living in Africa – yet he was still enthusiastically welcomed.

Thousands of people gathered on the roadways near the presidential palace as Mr Obama’s motorcade sped through the coastal city, many in the crowds wearing white to symbolise peace.

Some waved homemade signs welcoming Mr Obama, while those gathered near the palace entrance sang and played drums, the rhythmic beats audible from inside the gates.

At Goree Island, the former slave trading post Mr Obama visited later yesterday, local residents waited under scorching sun for hours to catch a glimpse of the president.

They sang a song about his return to his ancestral homeland and broke into jubilant cheers as the president and first lady Michelle Obama walked over to shake hands.

Looming over the festive atmosphere were concerns over Nelson Mandela.

Mr Mandela’s democratic influence in Africa is at the core of Mr Obama’s trip. The three countries he will visit were selected as a signal of US support for African nations that have embraced democracy in a region where the legacy of corruption and authoritarianism have been difficult to overcome.

Mr Sall, for example, won the presidency in Senegal last year by ousting an incumbent president who attempted to change the constitution to make it easier for him to be re-elected and for his son to succeed him.

The president is being accompanied throughout his trip by his wife, daughters Malia and Sasha, and mother-in-law Marian Robinson.

Following the president’s meetings with Mr Sall, the family boarded a ferry to Goree Island, which by some accounts was the centre of the Atlantic slave trade.

The Obamas were given a tour of the salmon-coloured House of Slaves where Africans were held before being sold into slavery.

The president then peered out into the vast Atlantic through the Door of No Return, where shackled men, women and children left Africa, inching across a plank to the hull of a waiting ship.

“Obviously, for an African-American, an African-American president, to be able to visit this site, I think, gives me even greater motivation in terms of human rights around the world,” Mr Obama said after his tour.

The president’s stop on Goree Island was the first of two visits on the trip highlighting racial change in Africa. The second is scheduled for Sunday at South Africa’s Robben Island, where Mr Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in prison.

more courts articles

Man (25) in court charged with murdering his father and attempted murder of mother Man (25) in court charged with murdering his father and attempted murder of mother
Man appears in court charged with false imprisonment of woman in van Man appears in court charged with false imprisonment of woman in van
Man in court over alleged false imprisonment of woman Man in court over alleged false imprisonment of woman

More in this section

Bus accident in South Africa kills at least 45, transport ministry says Bus accident in South Africa kills at least 45, transport ministry says
Russia ‘abolishes’ monitoring of sanctions on North Korea with UN veto Russia ‘abolishes’ monitoring of sanctions on North Korea with UN veto
UN top court orders Israel to open more land crossings into Gaza UN top court orders Israel to open more land crossings into Gaza
Cookie Policy Privacy Policy Brand Safety FAQ Help Contact Us Terms and Conditions

© Examiner Echo Group Limited