‘My Cousin In Kenya Can’t Get a Job Without Paying a Bribe’: Obama Tells African Leaders to Get Their Houses in Order

Stop meddlin, Mr. President.

And Pres. Obama is doing such a GREAT job with Americas’ “house in order”?

all of the above comments are just plain and i think all of them have never set foot outside their towns obama is not meddling that is where his father is from Kenya so he has part of kenya in him so he has a right to discuss it if he feels the need to I love him for remembering where he is from cause most hypocrites would have distanced themselves from where they from so to all u fake people get a passport and travel see the world and I dont mean from your comcast cable.

I think he’s saying something honest.
I think this is a very smart way to point out that corruption is normal in Africa.
At least it seems he cares — In the past, we just let people starve, and die.

Obama is totally right on this. Im from Kenya (living in USA) and a majority of our leaders have totally failed us. Corruption, Nepotism, Ethnocentricity, poor governance etc, Africa has vast resources and a large educated and young labor base and all these are not harnessed due to poor governance. what a waste!!!!!

Obama spoke the truth; the problems with Africa stem from government-sanctioned bribes against their own people and against outside agencies and businesses trying to help them. The emotional thing is to blame all the woes on colonialism but they are in charge of their own destinies now and there is no excuse. It’s going to take time to root out the corruption and oppression perpetuated by those who claim to govern but it has to begin now.

“…his [Obama's]cousin in Kenya can’t find a job without paying a bribe,…”?
That’s nothing new but that’s the Obama way to get a and hold a job in the US. He and his pondents are using that very same system by rewarding the union workers for their bibes.
Give me a break. Moronic talk is Obama’s trade mark.

Big O spoke the truth. In one year these African leaders will see Obama not as a black US President but just another US President.

Speak loudly and hide that very small stick.

Nice that he is objective…good start to solve problems…his trip to Ghana is a great start…India, the worlds largest democracy is doing well now, still a way to go (population explosion)but the resources of the people as far as brain power is enormous…dedication and hard work to education…Ghana may or can achieve that same level of success…

What a guy, talking so tough and not being able to
change conditions that were created in this administration. All those sob stories coming out as needed! And bribes being taken in Kenya to get a job?
Not much different from here is it, either you promise retribution or you hire relatives and friends ( even though totally inexperienced)

Iowan: Obama DID turn his back on is relatives. Where have you been the last year and a half? He’s not being “charitable to those less fortunate”, he’s just being his usual “do as I say, not as I do” self. If he was truly so interested in helping his poor family members, then why has a man who was, and may still be, worth millions, just now gotten around to being concerned about his dear cousin in Kenya who lives in a hut??!!?? Furthermore, there’s an old saying that goes, “Charity begins at home.” Maybe that’s where he should’ve started from the very beginning.

Obama’s cousin in Kenya can’t find a job without paying a bribe?
This tells me how this sensitive president feels for and cares about his relatives and what his obligations should be. He should be ashamed. It’s easy to feed the public sab storries to avoid using his own money to aliviate this condition.
If one feels the regressive “progressive agenda” needs to be advanced nothing prevents one from spending their own money. Using public funding does not reflect Obama as being honest but as selfish.

===and that while he’s President of the United States he feels poverty in a very personal way because of this of his family situation.”===
Someone ask Obama how that school is coming along that he promised to help build where his relatives live. He feels the poverty in a personal way because why? What exactly has he done personally to help his poor relatives? Tell Michelle to forego the $500 sneakers and send the money to a poor relative.

This is especially ironic since Obama comes from the cesspool of Chicago politics where pay to play is business as usual. Is he completely tone deaf or just clueless about how this comes across to the many people who spend all day, everyday applying for work here in the United States, only to be told that no one is hiring. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious.

Many of you seem confused about the purpose of the G-8 Summit. It’s a time for the world’s leaders to address global issues. And government corruption in Africa (as well as in Mexico and many other places) is an issue that matters to all of us. Most of the nations of Africa (like Mexico) are blessed with incredible wealth in natural resources. Yet they are poor due to corrupt governance. That is an issue that can be fixed. Look at the difference between the economies of North and South Korea. You can’t even compare the standard of living between the two. It can be fixed. Governments must adhere to the rule of law, stop tolerating corruption, and concentrate on providing education and governing for the benefit of the population, not for personal gain.

Why doesn’t Obama just give the poor cousin in Kenya five bucks a day out of his many millions???

I think now more American are becoming fools than wise people, i guess the era America produce more wise youths are gone as i read from this blog i notice that we Africans are now more intelligent than average American. i am a Nigerian but i suffer in oversee country today because of the corruption cause by our ex military president Ibrahim Babangida and his former friend ex president Olusegun Obasanjo who organise the world record worst presidential election in history of mankind, today i can agree that Nigeria can produce over 30 million internet scammers just because we lost our way as a nation due to bad corrupt leader. i am also a scammer out of hunger and fustration

How do you think Obama got where he is?

“his cousin in Kenya can’t find a job without paying a bribe, and that’s not the fault of the G-8. And when companies can’t operate without paying, in some parts of Africa, without paying the 25 percent fee off the top in bribes…”
The UAW (United Auto Workers Union) drove up the American car industy’s labor costs $30 per hour more than Japanese companies. The figure includes pension and health care costs for hundreds of thousands of retirees.
“As defined by the current United Auto Worker contract negotiated with the ‘Big Five’ (GM, Ford, Chrysler, and top parts makers Delphi and Visteon), an auto ‘production worker’ is a job description that covers anything from mowing grass to cleaning the toilets. In the real world, these jobs would be outsourced to $8 an hour, no-benefit wage earners, but on Planet Big Five, these jobs get the same wages as any auto line-worker: an average $26 an hour ($60,000 a year) plus benefits that bring the company’s total cost per worker to a staggering $65 an hour.
“But at least the grass cutters are working for their pay. The UAW contract also guarantees that 12,000 autoworkers get full wage for doing nothing.” StrategyWorld

“his cousin in Kenya cant find a job without paying a bribe, and that’s not the fault of the G-8″ aide’s paraphrase
“…the South Korean government working with the private sector and civil society was able to create a set of institutions that provided transparency and accountability and efficiency that allowed for extraordinary economic progress. And that there was no reason why many African countries could not do the same.” Obama
Where are the folks who are so fond of crowing about Obama’s “apology tours”? I guess even Rush can’t parse out the context of these comments enough to fabricate something for the two minute hate.

MayBee:”would be so moved by Obama’s “personal” story about how he’s visited Africa *twice*.”
Did you read the blog? His visits to Africa were in no way his story, he didn’t even mention them. Is there some other article you are referencing?
His story (framing actually, his thesis and supporting arguments revolved around the comparison of Africa with other nations and accusations of rampant corruption/bribery) was that his father came from Kenya and that he has family still living there. Many people respect that having family living in a different culture, even distant family, provides a more candid and accurate understanding of that culture and situation.

The President blames Kenya’s problems with economic progress relative to S. Korea’s on ‘colonialism’…incredible.
Yet, what did the world witness in Kenya recently? Tribal violence between Kenyans.
You see, it is all the West’s fault.
The President continues his ‘apology’ tour’.

Perhaps the President is unaware Korea was under Japanese domination for nearly 40 yrs in the last century.
I’d say they have done pretty well under America’s security umbrella and a democratic govt….free from N. Korean and Chinese tyranny.
Kenya has been independent for 50 yrs…yet according to the President, it is all ‘western colonialism’s’ fault.
The same old leftist pith.

thr notion of obama lecturing african leaders is laughable. especially on corruption. there is a joke there, i’m just laughing so hard right now i can’t think of it.

J House:”Kenya has been independent for 50 yrs…yet according to the President, it is all ‘western colonialism’s’ fault.”
What? Seriously, did you even read the post?? Obama NEVER said anything about it being western colonialism’s fault, in fact he EXPLICITLY rejected that notion. You are blatantly lying about the documented facts of Obama’s position.

“… he wanted to make it clear that the problems that Africans face WEREN’T just a product of colonialism or past history,”

The whiners will always whine and continue to amuze me with their asinine comments that only confirm that their head is so far up their arse.
Posted by: NickO | Jul 10, 2009 9:12:59 AM
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You are obviously talking about 2000-2008, right?

“J House:”Kenya has been independent for 50 yrs…yet according to the President, it is all ‘western colonialism’s’ fault.”
What? Seriously, did you even read the post?? Obama NEVER said anything about it being western colonialism’s fault, in fact he EXPLICITLY rejected that notion. You are blatantly lying about the documented facts of Obama’s position.”
Posted by: jhw539 | Jul 10, 2009 12:44:48 PM
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Well noted jhw and absolutely correct.

Does his cousin know that he talks about him, like he talked about his uncle and D-Day only to find out, they never spoke to each other.

On the GDP issue .Maybe if kenya enjoyed the same trade agreements that Korea enjoys with the united states our GDP would still be ahead of Korea. Obama should not compare apples to Oranges. I am sure 50 years ago the US economy was better than Japans.But now its not.Could it be poor governance and fat cats in America are to blame

“there was no reason why many African countries could not do the same”
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Isn’t is more difficult to do this in Africa because of the “tribal” issue? Wouldn’t they have to abandon their tribal roots to accomplish this and become a cohesive unit? Same in Afghanistan? To my knowledge, South Korea is a solid unit.

“The president said, Froman said, recounting from his contemporaneous notes”
Man, is the paraphrasing in this article annoying. It’s presumably because the article is essentially a transcript of some ABC News broadcast segment, where they had this Froman guy presented in the role of
“Our reporter who was on the scene just now giving us his right-there-on-the-scene impression of what Obama just said (did we mention we have a correspondent on the scene? In AFRICA? Woo, go us!)”
The networks love to needlessly put a journalist’s face on the screen just to show off they have someone of their own at the scene, and it looks even dumber in print.

I know he talks about transparency, accountability and efficiency in Italy but why does he forgets that his administration broke promises of the above three after he took office. It is nice to see that what I say is more important than what I do.

If he is so worried about his poor cousin that can’t find a job – why don’t he give him some of the $ Miss Michelle is spending on sneakers and purses?

I know he talks about transparency, accountability and efficiency Posted by: ak331 | Jul 10, 2009 2:39:44 PM
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Just because you say something doesn’t make it so. There are obvious instances where he is not open and transparent – and is just another politician. To tell the truth I wish he had never mentioned it – I’m enough of a realist to know it’s an unnatural trait for a politician.

I don’t know what he is complaining about. Here in Chicago you can’t get a city job without the bribe either. BHO should know that.

The President certainly focused on corruption and bribes as being systemic in Africa and a root cause of the failure of progress vs. S Korea…he should be applauded for it.
Be he can’t help but mention ‘that others’ said colonialism was a factor, which he won’t take exception to…
just as he did in Trinidad.
And I agree, S. Korea has plenty of bribery and corruption, as does the U.S.
If that is the case, what are the real causes of the lack of progress in Kenya?
The President knows it is tribalism, but he won’t say it.
That goes for Iraq and Afghanistan as well.

There is no defending the corruption in Africa whatever levels of corruption exist elsewhere- it is where the problem is (along with tribalism and inequitable wealth distribution by the state). Kenya just released an annual budget which equates to about 280 USD per capita. Jeff Sachs and his colleagues are already showing in many Millennium Villages across Africa that an investment of USD 100 per capita in science-backed interventions can dramatically improve lives. The government has all this money and invests USD 13 per capita per year on health. What is all the rest of the money for?

There is no defending the corruption in Africa whatever levels of corruption exist elsewhere
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No, there is no defending it, although some will by saying it is a remnant of colonialism.
But it isn’t as if African leaders don’t know there is corruption, and it isn’t as if the African people don’t know there is corruption, and it isn’t as if Americans don’t know there is corruption in Africa. Surely President Obama didn’t tell anyone in that room anything they didn’t know and hadn’t heard.
So what is the answer?

He cannot miss the oopurtunity to remind us all of our ‘colonial legacy’, nor ‘diminish’ its importance to the suffering of the developing world.
Posted by: J House | Jul 10, 2009 4:00:10 PM
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Which is why he sent the bust of Churchill back to England. I suspect it’s also why he gave the Queen copies of his speeches. He can’t resist lecturing everyone. (I bet she never listened to ‘em.)
And IMO, it’s why he is apathetic about America. It’s just another one of “those countries.” Because slavery existed in America, everything else good doesn’t matter. He sure likes to take for granted the good things that came out of it though.

BradT8 – I believe you meant to address that to pz. The little arrow thingie points to the name of the commenter, kind of like a word bubble.

“Some say” Posted by: moderate | Jul 10, 2009 5:47:00 PM
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I believe that is how the “rates would necessarily skyrocket” controversy. It is difficult to say if he was doing a “some say” or “saying it himself.” Add in al the er’s and uh’s and you’ve got yourself a really fractured statement.

I believe Obama, Keep up with your hard line on African leaders. We Africans cannot continuosly blame our lack of progress on the past, when most of our countries have had political freedom for over 30 year. I believe the development of a country is influenced to some extend by the past governance, but with the global awareness of the tools required to make some advancement in our countries, we should make a difference by striving to install leaders who love their countries and are not narcissists and also have institutions that can allow some level of functionality that will pull us out from the quagmire that we have been stuck in for decades.

Obama should do something for his cousin in Kenya by talking directly to the nation’s leaders. He should put pressure on African leaders to sit up or………. get out power!

Talk about corruption – our congress passes a bill in which 300 pages are written at 3:00 AM and no one reads it before they vote on it. That’s corruption, plain and simple.

Also not a time to take “globalism” scams seriously. Put Americans back to work and end H1B/L1 visas. Show African how it is done and help them prosper like we used to do before the H1B and L1 visa programs forced Americans out of work and into foreclosures.

Why is it that the press does not want to challenge whatever Obama says? Any High School student should be able to tell why South Korea is ahead of Kenya. The reason is simple – South Korea is very important to America and the west for security reasons. Americans have real interests in that country and the aid and assistance is quite substantial.
When will the press in America learn to scutinize Obama’s comments?

The President is hitting the right tone. I was born in Africa and I know exactly what he is talking about. Thanks God we have a President who understands the issues.

His cousin can’t get a job without paying a bribe and he’s giving Africa advice to get their act together. He should be telling Chicago, Ill. to get it’s act together first. What a sanctimonious hipocrit.

im the same way if u can not fix starvation in America they what makes them think they can fix africa we been thier died thier helping remember when they pulled our soldiers be hind the vehicles i can thye made a movie of it remember people they care not for us let them fix thier own country good luck to them we got big problems here And may god help us all and i mean all of man kind cause if we dont change our way’s no one needs to worry do they.

‘My Cousin In Kenya Can’t Get a Job Without Paying a Bribe’: Obama Tells African Leaders to Get Their Houses in Order
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Hey, isn’t that how a bunch of current ambassadors got theirs (not to mention all the others in Obamaworld?

Talk about bribes. What were the congresspeople promised to pass the cap and trade? How come more stiumulus money went to the areas that voted for Obama? Who will be given the energy “grants” and the healthcare “grants?” Grants is another word for bribe. Let’s clean up our own backyard before telling others how to run their countries.

President Obama is not really aware about conditions in Africa, having never lived there. In my country and probably in most African countries, bribery and corruption at the highest echelon of government is endemic, but that is not even the worst of the ills. Let me list a few key grievances: the suppression of human rights, lack of freedom to express oneself, write or demonstrate; absence of the rule of law; and, under the pretext of transparency and accountability, civil society institutions have been undermined through new repressive laws, which international human rights organizations and multilateral and bilateral donor agencies have condemned.

Seems like his friend from Chicago Tony Rezko couldn’t get a job without a bribe either. But after he helped the Obamas buy that house, the work came pouring in.

Obama wouldn’t have a job either, had a LOT of people not been bribed.

Americans already have their jobs back! HB1 visa holders have had to leave/those who are eligible and are highly qualified are finding it impossible to get any employer to hire them due to the backlash and TARP. So, if Americans are unable to find new employment, as much as I feel for them, they need to find some solution rather than find another scapegoat.
However, this is what I have to say: If Americans want all foreign workers out of their country the same should apply to Americans living in foreign countries. Companies in Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong, mainland China and London should all revisit the Americans on their payroll. Most locals in these countries working in IT or in financial institutions are all highly educated from the best schools in the world and have comparable skills to Americans. Furthermore, for the countries where a second language is necessary many Americans have not learned the local language whether it is Japanese or Chinese. (I have yet to hear of a H1B visa holder who cannot speak, read or write English). Job offers extended for Americans in all those countries should be rescinded. Americans can all go home back to America and then take the jobs that have been vacated by the H1B visa holders. Unfortunately there are thousands of Americans working in the countries above so the positions vacated by the H1B visas will not be sufficient to cover them. I am sure all the Americans in America who are clamoring for the H1B visa program to be terminated can clearly explain the logic to their fellow Americans coming home. It should not be a one way street. If Americans treat foreign nationals in a certain way the way the respective foreign nations treat Americans when they are in a foreign country should be along the same lines. America is a great place to work for an ambitious person but so is the rest of the world and what seems to escape most Americans is that there are thousands of Americans living and working in a foreign county on a work visa granted to them.

Sounds like Illinois, Mr President!LOL!

H1B and L1 Visa holders suck the american economy. These folks need to be banned in america. Instead they should open more doctors from other countries to enter into us.
H1B and L1 Visa holders don’t buy any american products either. They just buy every thing from the Indian Stores. from Soaps to Groceries.
These people sleep on the floor. Outwardly they come dressed nicely to work. But Inward if you go their apartments they live like 8 folks in one apartment. Never clean apartments. Their apartments stick. As no body like to spend money on any thing. The sleep on the floors. All the momey they make they transfer to india
The money they make is completely transferred to india. and most likely be invested in indian rea estate.
The people fool americans by posting messages like ” without h1b folks america is into dungeon”

Yes that’s right Indians do live on floor because these is a scientific reason for that. Sleeping on plain floor will never cause back pain. You dumb Americans you will never know this and that’s the reasons you have worlds most disables(Please check it). Secondly, We live 8 people in one apartment because one reason is Indians are not raise to live Introverts like Americans. We would never like to be sick and take medical help just because of being alone. Check that most of your citizens get a pet just so that they don’t feel alone in homes.
We do transfer money back to India because that is our right to do it, after We pay taxes as much as your government demands from our work money/salary. First of all your employers hire us just because we are oke to work on low salary. After that your government asks for taxes(Still its ok), now you have problem with us sending money back to our country. What does your country wants then? Slaves? We Indians are the people who live with pride and not like beggars and so we save money for rainy days. American live on Credit and this is the main reason you are facing such recession. Have you ever heard of Indian company affected or firing employees due to recession. That’s called best economic strategy. Your senators do know the impact on USA not having Indian IT workers or workforce. Tell me honestly what does USA produce on your own? Beer? or prostitutes? We Indians are self independent for the basic things like Food, Shelter and clothing we don’t need USA for that. But think of the recessions you had in USA before, there were problems getting a single bread for US citizens.
See how many times you have been hit by recession and how many more times you will be having recession just because of dumb Americans. Now check if India is in Debt of USA or viceversa
We all other countries are paying you guyz money so that you can party hard on weekends, but things are not going to be same always.
Some facts: 2020 India will be the youngest country in the world, that means India will have the majority of its population between 20-35 years of age. With each Individual learned the best knowledge in the world including Business,tech, science, agri anything. This will increase the productivity of India much more times than any country has ever seen in the world till now. Major Work will be in Technology, IT, Medicine. But still we Indians(according to our good culture and upbringing) do not consider others inferior or our self superior and will strive for the best of mankind be it working for NASA or ISRO we will have our people go places just for good of the world.

H1B folks steal confidential US projects into India.

Look, most of the Kenyans I know are very hard working people. They have done the very best to make sure that their kids go to school and get the best out of nothing. I come from the Rift-Valley. The land is very fertile and accessible to all farmers. The problem in Kenya is not the common fox, it is the politicians that have just distroyed the country. The fameres in my area wont plant enough groups anymore to sell in the open markets because the government regulates the prices and the farmer does not break even at the end of the year. It cost about $50 to buy a bag of fertilizer but the end result,the farmer will sell his harvest for less that $50.
There is no drought in Kenya, the politicians are using it because they want the money to missused.

Sounds like a fantastic idea. I am willing to pay any HR person out there $10 grand to make sure I get hired (and not fired) for at least two years. I am going to start putting it at the top of my resume.
As Al Capone said “You can get a lot further with a smile and a gun, than you can with just a smile.”