Melania Trump, the US First Lady visited a former slave trading fort in Ghana on Wednesday, the second day of her maiden solo tour of Africa promoting her children’s welfare programme.
“Akwaaba (Welcome) to Cape Coast,” read a sign hung from the whitewashed walls of the Cape Coast Castle, some 145km from the capital, Accra.
Comparisons were drawn to the visit of former US president Barack Obama and his family in 2009.
“The interest is very, very muted and subdued. There are a lot of people (in Ghana) who are extremely indifferent about this visit,” political commentator Etse Sikanku told AFP.
The focus of Wednesday’s itinerary was the tour of Cape Coast Castle, a major outpost on the Atlantic slave trading route, where she also met members of the local Fante tribe.
The first lady’s visit to Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt has been seen as an attempt to carve her own path and emerge from her husband’s shadow and his divisive presidency.
It also comes after another turbulent week for the Trump administration, with controversy about his pick for the US Supreme Court, who has been accused of sexual assault.
On Tuesday, President Trump openly mocked the university professor who made the allegations, drawing scorn from critics who said such taunts deterred survivors of assault.