As President Obama arrives in Kenya today, for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit and talks with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, security in the capital, Nairobi, is extremely high. Kenyan and American forces are patrolling the streets, U.S. military helicopters have been spotted over the city, roads are closed, and Kenyans have been alerted that there may be disruptions in cell phone service as the President moves throughout the city.
In reporting on the President’s upcoming trip, many American media outlets have highlighted “security concerns” in Kenya — where the Somali-based militant group Al Shabaab carried out a deadly, devastating attack on Garissa University College earlier this year — and CNN even referred to Kenya yesterday as a “hotbed of terror,” a characterization that quickly drew frustration and ridicule from many Kenyans.
Here & Now’s Meghna Chakrabarti talks to Dr. J. Peter Pham, director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, about the President’s trip to Kenya, and the reality of the security situation in both the country and the region.
Guest
- Dr. J. Peter Pham, is the director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center.
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