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Obama to visit Kenya, birthplace of his father, for first time as president

The White House says Obama will visit Kenya in July for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit.

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Ben Curtis/AP/File
Street sign maker Salmon Jackoyo puts the finishing touches to a hat painted with the flags of the USA and Kenya and reading 'Obama for President,' on the side of the road in downtown Kisumu, western Kenya, in 2012. Many Kenyans consider President Barack Obama, the son of a Kansas woman and a Kenyan man, as one of their own.
  • By Associated Press

| WASHINGTON

President Barack Obama will make his first trip as president to Kenya, the country of his father's birth.

The White House says Obama will visit Kenya in July for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, which brings together business leaders, international organizations and governments. This will be the first time the summit takes place in sub-Saharan Africa.

Obama visited Kenya as a US senator, but never as president. During a trip to other African countries last year, he said he was likely to visit Kenya before leaving the White House.

The president's father came to the United States from Kenya for school and returned to his home country after his son's birth. The elder Obama died more than 30 years ago, though the president has other family still living in Kenya.

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