The Foreign Service Journal, September 2008

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 8 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 17 arlier this year, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete was asked his thoughts on the pos- sibility that the United States could elect its first black president, Sen. Barack Obama, whose father was from neighbor- ing Kenya. Pres. Kikwete looked at visiting U.S. President George W. Bush before answering: “Let him be as good a friend of Africa as Pres. Bush has been.” That response reflects a clear affection for America found generally among Africans as the November general presi- F O C U S O N T H E 2 0 0 8 E L E C T I O N S A FRICA S EEKS A T RUE F RIEND B ARACK O BAMA MAY BE AN “A FRICAN SON ,” BUT THERE IS STRONG SUPPORT FOR J OHN M C C AIN ’ S CANDIDACY ON THE CONTINENT . B Y S AMUEL S IRINGI E Frank Harris