Ghana official: Obamas are coming home

CAPE COAST, GHANA -- The Grio's correspondent Mara Schiavocampo spoke today with Deputy Minister of Tourism Kwabena Akyeampong. Their conversation centered on a tour of Cape Coast Castle, a historic slave castle along Ghana's central coast.

Deputy Minister Akyeampong spoke about the significance of the castle, remarking that it was a bastion for several colonial powers and served as a slave trading post from the 1400s to the 1900s.

"I think this one of our most important historical sites that documents things that happened," said Akyeampong. Regarding the planned Obama tour of the castle, he said it's a chance for Michelle especially, who "is able to reconnect back to where her ancestors came from. [The Obamas] are coming back home. They didn't go on their own volition, but this time they are coming back home on their own volition. That is the big difference."

The President Obama and his wife Michelle are expected to arrive in Ghana on Friday evening. They will receive a tour of Cape Coast Castle on Saturday before heading back to the United States.