Obama said some weighty things in Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya — As Barack Obama jetted off to Ethiopia, ending his first and likely only visit to Kenya as US president, a hashtag trended here: #NowThatObamaIsGone.

Some Kenyans on Twitter joked that, #NowThatObamaIsGone, whither the fresh grass planted for his visit (much of which didn't grow in time)? Others wondered what, if any, changes would result from the big issues raised by Obama during his two-day stay in his father's homeland. 

On Sunday, before traveling to Ethiopia, the president gave a lengthy address at an indoor sports arena filled with young Kenyans, in which he said the country had "come so far in just my lifetime" — but that corruption, terrorism and ethnic divisions threatened its future.

"Kenya is at a crossroads, a moment filled with peril but enormous promise," Obama told the crowd, calling for young Kenyans to "seize the moment" and make positive changes.

Some of the other important bits:

The cost of corruption

Seemingly worried about backlash, the US president took pains to make it clear that "corruption is not unique to Kenya."

"I want to assure you I speak about it wherever I go, not just here in Kenya. So I don't want everybody to get too sensitive," he said.

But too often, Obama said, "corruption is tolerated because that’s how things have always been done. People just think that that is sort of the normal state of affairs."

In Kenya, it's time to break the cycle of corruption at both the low level and "the folks at the top."

"Corruption holds back every aspect of economic and civil life. It’s an anchor that weighs you down and prevents you from achieving what you could," he said.

"One study shows corruption costs Kenyans 250,000 jobs every year — because every shilling that’s paid as a bribe could be put into the pocket of somebody who’s actually doing an honest day’s work."

Women and girls

Obama spoke strongly and at length about traditions in some places of the world of repressing women. “Just because something is a tradition doesn’t make it right,” he said. “Treating women and girls as second-class citizens, those are bad traditions. They need to change.“

“There’s no excuse for sexual assault or domestic violence. There’s no reason that young girls should suffer genital mutilation. There’s no place in civilized society for the early or forced marriage of children. These traditions may date back centuries; they have no place in the 21st century.”

Obama went on to link the treatment of women to economic success, explaining: “Any nation that fails to educate its girls or employ its women and allowing them to maximize their potential is doomed to fall behind in a global economy.”

“Kenya will not succeed if it treats women and girls as second-class citizens. I want to be very clear about that.”

Gay rights

Obama spoke about gay rights during a media briefing Saturday with the Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, in response to a question. While in Sunday's speech he didn’t openly address the issue again, Obama emphasized the importance of embracing “diversity” and “dignity for all of Kenya’s people.”

Ethnic divisions

One of the reasons Obama didn't visit Kenya sooner after taking office is that, following the country's disputed elections in late 2007, violence along ethnic and tribal lines left at least 1,000 people dead and many thousands displaced.

Obama praised Kenya for moving forward, while warning: "Old tribal divisions and ethnic divisions can still be stirred up."

"I want to be very clear here — a politics that’s based solely on tribe and ethnicity is a politics that's doomed to tear a country apart," he said. "It is a failure — a failure of imagination.”

He later added: “In the end, we're all part of one tribe — the human tribe.”

Terrorism

Obama said that he and Kenyatta spent considerable time discussing the threat from Al Shabaab, a militant group based in neighboring Somalia responsible for horrific attacks on Kenyan soil.

“It is important to remember that violent extremists want us to turn against one another,” the US president said. “That's what terrorists typically try to exploit.”

“Terrorists who try to sow chaos, they must be met with force and they must also be met, though, with a forceful commitment to uphold the rule of law, and respect for human rights.”

Just as Obama was leaving Kenya for Ethiopia, a massive bomb explosion at a Mogadishu hotel was reported to have killed at least 13 people, with Al Shabaab claiming responsibility for the attack.

Kenyan-American president

Obama didn't talk much about Kenya during the earlier years of his presidency. Back home in the United States he was dogged by "birthers," apparently convinced he was born in Kenya.

Now, after more than six years in office, Obama with this trip has put the focus on his Kenyan ancestry, talking about his grandfather and father, their struggles and successes along with those of their country. 

"I am proud to be the first American President to come to Kenya," he said to cheering and applause. "And off course, I'm the first Kenyan-American to be President of the United States. That goes without saying."