Only small crowds greet Obama during Ghana visit

ACCRA, Ghana — The lucky ones saw him waving from behind the bulletproof glass of his passing vehicle for a few fleeting seconds. The others, like the rest of the world, just watched President Barack Obama’s visit on TV.

Despite the huge excitement and anticipation surrounding Obama’s first trip to sub-Saharan Africa as president, only relatively small crowds came out to meet him in Ghana’s capital. The absence of any big public event outdoors, heavy security that blocked roads, and uncertainty over which routes Obama might take combined to keep large crowds away.

It also left many disappointed they never got a chance to see him.

“I came all the way here to see Obama, but I can’t see him,” said 35-year-old Kodjo Seddoh, a native of Togo who traveled by bus to Ghana especially for the event.

“It’s been a disappointment,” he said, as he and a few hundred other people watched Obama pass in a black limousine en route to Ghana’s presidential palace. “Nobody has seen him except on TV.”

Many had hoped Obama would speak at an outdoor arena called Independence Square. But his main speech was delivered indoors at a nearby conference center because of fears over rain as well as fears it could cause a celebratory stampede, as a 1998 stop by President Bill Clinton nearly did. Then, a surging crowd toppled barricades at Independence Square after Clinton’s speech, prompting him to shout, “Back up! Back up!”, his Secret Service detail clearly frantic.

Still, Ghanaians were overwhelmingly happy Obama had come to town. Obama’s father is Kenyan, and so he is seen as a native son of Africa who ascended to the most powerful job in the world.

“It makes us proud of Ghana,” said Richard Kwasi-Yeboah, a 49-year-old selling posters of the American president. “We’re proud he chose us. It proves that Ghana is really free.”

While only a few hundred people could get close to Obama’s convoy as it headed toward the presidency, thousands lined roadsides outside a hospital he visited later in the day.

Crowds were kept off the road behind blue ropes by ubiquitous policemen dressed in black. Obama’s convoy passed, led by a triangle of white Ghanaian state motorcycles and a helicopter circling overhead. As it did so, the crowds went briefly wild, waving American flags, smiling and cheering. As soon as Obama was gone, the blue ropes came down and the everybody immediately dispersed.

Asked about the small turnout, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the “president wanted to use this visit to shine a light on Ghana and on what it is doing so successfully rather than on him.”

Some said it too difficult to go out with police blocking roads with orange barricades and ordering people on foot to take alternative routes. So many just stayed home instead to watch the visit on TV.

“Some people are upset they didn’t get to see him, but everybody’s happy he’s here. I’m happy,” said Djan Martin, 58. “The important thing is he came.”