Anti-Obama author kicked out of Kenya

An American author who came to Kenya to discredit Barack Obama was deported on Tuesday night.

Writer Jerome Corsi was arrested shortly after 8am just as he was about to address a news conference to launch his anti-Obama book in Nairobi.

He was taken to the Immigration headquarters at Nyayo House and later deported on the British Airways midnight flight out of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

Dr Corsi, author of The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality, which has been heavily criticised worldwide for its inaccuracies, came to Kenya more than a week ago, and had been staying with friends in Runda.

Radical Islam

He was due to launch the book, which depicts Mr Obama, whose father was Kenyan, as a sympathiser of radical Islam and communism, at the Laico Regency Hotel.

But he was arrested there before he could speak and driven with an assistant, Mr Timothy M. Bueler, to Nyayo House, around 500 metres away.

The Immigration officials also impounded copies of the Obama book.

At Nyayo House, the two were held for four hours and questioned by officials led by the Director of Immigration, Mr Albert Musasia, about his presence in Kenya.

The decision to deport him was made after it emerged that Dr Corsi and Mr Bueler had entered the country as tourists, stating they intended to visit game parks.

The book launch was a commercial venture, therefore, they had contravened their immigration status.

After questioning, the two were taken to the office of the Permanent Secretary, Mr Emmanuel Kisombe, and from there through the basement to a car in which they were driven to the house where Dr Corsi had been staying in Runda for verification of his passport and visa before they were escorted to the airport.

There he and his aide were held in the Immigration office to await their flight out of the country.

A US embassy official said they were not told officially about the arrests, saying they had learnt about them from the media.

The official said Dr Corsi’s was a private individual’s visit and did not warrant comment from the embassy since he was not a US government official.

Questioned

Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe commented later that the two US citizens were summoned by the Immigration department to be questioned on the status of their stay in the country.

He also said that they had chosen to fly out of the country voluntarily after being questioned.