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.
It looks like Obama Sr had political connections.
He was a Commie. Ann was a Commie.
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=303952499910291
Maybe they hoped for the future of Jr if born in Kenya.
Little did they know, he would achieve far more than they thought possible.