Yes, the whole region was British-controlled but at the time Obama was born Mombasa was not technically part of Kenya. The whole idea of Obama’s parents leaving Hawaii while she was pregnant never made much sense to me anyway. But it only made sense to me if I could believe that maybe Obama Sr. was bound and determined that his son be born in his home country of Kenya. That’s the only explanation I could think of for making such a risky trip halfway around the world with a young, pregnant wife. So why go through all that and then have the baby somewhere that was NOT technically part of Kenya?
In 1961 what mattered most to Obama, Sr., would have been that his son be born as a British citizen, which indeed is what happened. The decolonialization process was underway, but Kenya was not yet independent. Mombasa was Kenyan in many ways. Kenya came into being as a British colony in 1895 when the Sultan of Zanzibar ceded what became Kenya to British “protection.” East Africa was a major center of German colonization (to the south—Tangyanika etc. and the Brits were competing with them. The Sultan of Zanzibar was caught between them.
The boundaries that were established when the present-day African countries went independent in many cases were arbitrary and artificial. 1961 was a time of transition, Obama senior knew that. Kenya was emerging but its exact boundaries and form of government were not yet what they became.
Why go to Mombasa? Who knows. But as one of the larger cities, it must have had hospital facilities roughly on par with Nairobi, perhaps better. There probably weren’t a lot of other choices for European-style hospitals and I bet that his young lady was eager for the best hospital available.
They would not have seen “going to Mombasa” as going to a foreign place. It was a natural center for the sort of medical care they wanted at that point.
But nothing that I wrote in reply should be construed to mean that I am convinced this document is genuine. I don’t know if it is. I’m just trying to point out what things might have seemed like to Obama and Dunham in 1961.
You act as if he gave a damn about her. It's obvious he didn't. Used her and then dumped her.