--- title: Barack Obama Dines With Relatives in Kenya description: President Obama made time to meet with family on the first night of his four-day trip to Kenya and Ethiopia canonical: https://time.com/3971776/barack-obama-kenya-trip/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-24T19:49:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:25.511Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama Dines With Relatives in Kenya og:description: The President is in Africa for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit og:url: https://time.com/3971776/barack-obama-kenya-trip/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt168e45227d6cac51/69885c6635ba6f6ed5c0e565/obama-family.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: KENYA-US-OBAMA og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama Dines With Relatives in Kenya twitter:description: The President is in Africa for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt168e45227d6cac51/69885c6635ba6f6ed5c0e565/obama-family.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama Dines With Relatives in Kenya > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Obama Gets Red Carpet Treatment In Kenya [Watch (HLS stream): Obama Gets Red Carpet Treatment In Kenya](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/rzPsKDl1.m3u8) (1:06)  _Published 2015-07-25. It was a warm welcome for President Obama as he arrived in his ancestral homeland of Kenya for the first time as president._ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 24, 2015 7:49 PM UTC  US President Barack Obama sits alongside his step-grandmother, Mama Sarah, left, and half-sister Auma Obama, right, during a gathering of family at his hotel in Nairobi on July 24, 2015. US President Barack Obama sits alongside his step-grandmother, Mama Sarah, left, and half-sister Auma Obama, right, during a gathering of family at his hotel in Nairobi on July 24, 2015. Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 24, 2015 7:49 PM UTC President Obama made time to meet with family on the first night of [his four-day trip to Kenya and Ethiopia](http://time.com/3970332/obama-africa-kenya-ethiopia/). About three dozen of the President’s relatives joined him for dinner on Friday, including his half sister Auma and his step-grandmother Mama Sarah. Obama is in Kenya for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, of which he is co-chair. His trip marks the first time a sitting U.S. president has traveled to both Kenya and Ethiopia, but the trip also has historical significance given Obama’s personal connection to the East African nation. Obama’s father, Barack Obama, Sr., was born in Kenya and later died there. Obama was born in Hawaii. Per the White House pool report on Friday’s dinner: --- > “” --- ## Transcript It was a homecoming of sorts. At least that's how the local media billed President Obama's trip to Kenya. [ MUSIC ] I'm proud to be the first US President to visit Kenya and obviously this is personal for me. There's a reason why my name's Barack Hussein Obama. This is Obama's first trip to his father's homeland since becoming President. Officially, he's there to meet with his Kenyan counterpart, Uhuru Kenyataa and to co- host The Global Entrepreneurship Summit, a meeting of government's investors and entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship creates new jobs and new business New ways to deliver basic services. While in Kenya, the President also defended his 7 billion dollar plan to expand electricity to 20 million African households and businesses. Two years after its launch, the program is yet to turn on any lights. The next time Somebody's interested in how electricity gets generated, go back home and find out how long it takes to build a power plant. 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