Kenyans are demanding an apology from CNN after the news network described Kenya as “a hotbed of terror” in a report on US president Barack Obama’s visit this week.
“If CNN is civilized enough, they should apologize,” interior minister Joseph Nkaisserry said today, in response to anger on social media. Under the hashtag #SomeoneTellCNN, Kenyans have been voicing both impatience with being branded as a country rife with violence as well as pride in their country.
Ahead of Obama’s visit, authorities are taking extreme security measures from cutting off access to five major roads in the already congested capital city, closing off the airspace before and after his arrival, as well as preventing people from entering or leaving the State House which Obama’s staff have already overtaken.
Kenya, East Africa’s largest economy, has been the site of major attacks by al-Shabaab militants from Somalia where Kenyan military forces have been supporting the government. The global risk consultancy firm Maplecroft ranks Kenya as being at a “high risk” of such assaults, but most residents believe that risk is minimal in Nairobi. The United Kingdom and the US have advised travelers only to steer clear of areas along Kenya’s border with Somalia, its coast, as well as some parts of Nairobi.