Posted on 09/07/2009 2:46:50 PM PDT by conimbricenses
I do not purport to take a stance on the Obama birth certificate controversy, save to say that his refusal to release the full document is suspicious. I do take issue with falsehoods being put up in Obama's defense though. One of those falsehoods is currently being used to "debunk" the rumor that Obama was born in Mombassa, Kenya instead of Hawaii. The false claim is that Mombassa was part of Zanzibar in 1961 when Obama was born, and it is being repeated without scrutiny by the slothful mainstream media.
As with so many things about Obama, this claim is false. Mombassa and Zanzibar were both part of the British Protectorate of East Africa in 1961. Zanzibar is an island 30 miles off the coast of Africa and well south of Kenya. Mombassa was briefly a part of Zanzibar in 1963 due to the partitioning and independence of Great Britain's various colonial holdings. It was ceded to the newly formed nation of Kenya later that year. In 1961 though, Mombassa was definitely part of the British East African Protectorate and had been for over half a century.
A little history of Mombassa:
Mombassa, a prominent port city, was formally annexed by the Sultan of Zanzibar in 1887. As British presence grew in the region of what would become Kenya, the Sultan formally reliquished the administration (though not title of land) to Mombassa to Britain in 1887. In 1890 the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty between Britain and Germany gave Zanzibar and all its holdings to Britain. The last resistance against British rule on Zanzibar island was quashed in the Anglo-Zanzibar war of 1896, and the puppet administration Britain installed there formally gave up any claim to Mombassa in 1898. Mombassa remained firmly in British hands until Zanzibar's independence in 1963 shortly before Kenya's. This includes the time when Barack Obama was born. Not only that, but Mombassa was actually the CAPITAL of British East Africa from 1898 to 1905, before it was moved to the present capital of Nairobi.
A simple glance at any historical map of Africa reveals that the claims about Mombassa being a part of Zanzibar are a myth (largely because Mombassa and Zanzibar were BOTH part of the British East Africa protectorate at this time in history). Simply look at the following images and see for yourself. Mombassa is on the mainland just west of the 40 degree longitude and the 4 degree latitude intersection.
1876 pre-British map of Africa - Mombassa (known as Mombas) is part of Zanguebar (Zanzibar)
1892 German Map of Africa - Mombassa (listed as Mombas) is part of "Brit. Ost-Afrika" and "Sansibar" is a British Protectorate. This map was drawn shortly after Britain acquired Zanzibar, and thus Mombassa, in 1890
1895 Map of Africa - Shows Mombassa, along with the island of Zanzibar, as part of British East Africa.
1900 Map of Africa - Mombassa is part of British East Africa
1911 British East Africa Map - Shows Mombassa in British East Africa (the island of Zanzibar is also included as a British protectorate)
1913 Map of Africa - Mombassa is part of British East Africa
1922 Map of Africa - Mombassa is part of Kenya Colony, British East Africa
1960 National Geographic Map of Africa - Africa as it approximately appeared at the time of Obama's birth. Mombassa is part of "Keyna, U.K." as is Zanzibar Island.
Here are several additional historical maps of Africa showing Mombassa. Each proves that the claim about Mombassa being a part of Zanzibar at Obama's birth is a myth.
Good catch.
Thnak you for researching and posting this.
Like you I do not know the truth about obama’s birth. only obama knows
but using untruths to debunk something is typical laziness of media and obama allows and encourages misinformation
Thanks for posting this. I sort of thought something like this might be the case from an earlier posting and doing a little looking on the web, altho I was not sure. :)
These are interesting facts, but as any facts they are irrelevant to the Left.
Oops. Date correction - the Sultan of Zanzibar acquired Mombassa in 1837. He granted Britain administrative power over the city in 1887, and Britain acquired it, along with all of Zanzibar, as a protectorate from the treaty with Germany in 1890.
Your spelling of the city name is Mombassa. Google Mombasa Kenya, one “s” and you will find plenty of references. The birth certificate on WND shows the spelling with 1 “s”. The following is lifted from Wikipedia:
“On 25 May 1887, its administration was relinquished to the British East Africa Association (see Kenya). The sultan formally presented the town in 1898 to the British. It soon became the capital of the British East Africa Protectorate and is the sea terminal of the Uganda Railway, which was started in 1896. Many workers were brought in from British India to build the railway, and the city’s fortunes revived. On 1 July 1895, it became part of Britain’s Kenya protectorate (the coastal strip nominally under Zanzibari sovereignty).
Mombasa was part of the state of Zanzibar until 12 December 1963 when it was ceded to be incorporated into the newly independent state of Kenya.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mombasa
Whether or not that clarifies things I can’t say but at least there does seem to be a Mombasa, Kenya and if one uses Wikipedia, there may have been some ambiguity as to how it was referenced in the past.
Ping!
Mombassa, Mombasa, and Mombas are used interchangeably in historical documents and maps from the late 19th and early 20th century. As with many African language names, the letter-to-letter translation to English is imprecise.
Mombasa was also the capital of what was historically known as the “Seyidie Province” of British East Africa. Seyidie was also called the “Coast Province” and “Southern Coast Province” on maps and English language documents - consistent with the names given for the purported Obama hospital.
Might one not question how the entire area is/was referenced almost 50 years ago? Once more, what is important is that there is a legitimate question that has been raised and the easiest way to answer it is to see the vault birth certificate from Hawaii, assuming that there actually is one.
We can see where the White House did not vet Jones—what’s to say that the appropriate people in charge during the election bothered to vet Obama? The whole eligibility issue is a serious matter and as such, is one deserving of a legal answer, not legalistic double-talk and obfuscation.
leased to British Protectorate
http://www.mombasainfo.com/about-mombasa/history-culture/history-of-mombasa/
At the age of 17, Mercury and his family fled from Zanzibar for safety reasons due to the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGUdjHUVd18
Kenya began it’s independence in 1957 and the first president of the Kenya African National Union political party was elected in 1960.
“In 1957 African members were elected to the Legislative Council through a direct election. 1959 saw the release of Kenyatta from detention in Kapenguria. Kenyatta continued with campaign for freedom while under house arrest. In 1960, the colonial government announced plans to transfer power to a democratically elected government. In 1962, the Lancaster constitution conference was held in London where the 1st Kenya constitution was made. Kenya achieved internal self-government on June 1st 1963. Kenya was declared a republic on December 12th 1963 with Jomo Kenyatta as 1st the president. Kenyatta died in 1978 and Daniel Arap Moi took over. “
“Jomo Kenyatta is still in detention in 1960, but his colleagues elect him president of their newly formed political party KANU (Kenya African National Union). He is released by the British in 1961. In London in 1962 he leads Kenya’s delegation in the negotiations for independence. The new nation is to include the coastal strip which until this time has been leased from the sultan of Zanzibar.”
The Zanzibar thing was discussed last month several places in the FR link below. Freeper BP2 has this info.
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ad21#ixzz0QShcG3Pc
http://www.enhols.com/kenya_safari/history.aspx
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2306351/posts?q=1&;page=4062
Thanks for the ping...well, maybe we’ll start getting some answers tomorrow.
bfl
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