American television network, CNN, has apologized to Kenyans over comments that described the country as a “hotbed of terror.”
A report from Kenya prior to President Barack Obama’s visit to the country in July this year had suggested that the East African country had serious security problems based on attacks by Islamist militant group al-Shabab, within the East African sub-region.
The said report was captioned, “Obama’s visit to Kenya raises serious security concerns.”
“As Barack Obama arrives in Kenya on Friday for the first time as president of the United States, he faces heightened security concerns and a crushing spectacle of admirers that will make this trip worlds apart from his two previous defining journeys to his father’s ancestral land.”
The statement had since its publication been met with much criticism both locally and internationally amidst calls for an apology from the international broadcaster.
In a Facebook post, president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta stated that a top executive of the CNN has apologised for the comments. Below are excerpts of the post by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“Today I held a meeting with CNN’s Global Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Tony Maddox, who called on me at State House, Nairobi. He personally delivered an apology on behalf of CNN International and expressed deep regret after portraying Kenya as a ‘hotbed of terror’ ahead of a visit to Nairobi by President Barack Obama last month.”
The president also stated that Tony Maddox further condemned the comments and described it as “both ill fitting and undeserved.”
A disappointed Uhuru Kenyatta stated that the comments not only affected the politicians but the people of Kenya as well. He added that the comments undermined the “sacrifices made by the Kenyan troops, relegated to the background, the value of hundreds of lives lost.”
“I reiterated that the war on terror was a global threat, not exclusive to Kenya, and that Kenya’s troops and her people have made great sacrifices and still do, to keep Kenya and the region safe. In one stroke, CNN’s description of Kenya as a ‘hotbed of terror’ undermined the sacrifices made by our Kenyan troops, and the value of hundreds of lives lost, and relegated them to nothing. That’s why Kenyans, as expressed by those on Twitter, were so angry. Kenya is nothing like the countries that have real war. There was no reason to portray Kenya in that way.”
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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citifmonline.com/Ghana