NOW BEN CARSON TALKS UP HIS KENYAN ROOTS

New attempt to burnish foreign policy credentials

Published: 16 hours ago
December 8, 2015
Erin Conway-Smith

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Ben Carson is coming to Africa. But he might want to get his geography right first.
Carson, the 64-year-old retired neurosurgeon and Republican presidential candidate, told a talk radio show Monday that he will visit Kenya, Zambia and Nigeria for a week starting Dec. 27.

The Africa trip is Carson's latest attempt to burnish his foreign policy credentials, coming on the heels of a visit to Jordan last month in which he met with Syrian refugees.

Carson, who has shed popularity in polls of Republican voters, has admitted his campaign for the presidency may be flagging due to a lack of foreign policy experience. On international affairs he has made several embarrassing blunders, including pronouncing Hamas like "hummus."

Carson told US radio host Hugh Hewitt that he will visit Kenya because of his ancestral connections to the area, noting that, "my ancestors are from the Kenya-Tanzania region, the Turkana tribe."

"I’ve had all of that traced back," he added.

While some Kenyans have expressed excitement about the prospect of another American president with Kenyan roots, others quickly pointed out that the Turkana people traditionally live in Kenya's northwest — far from the country's border with Tanzania.

Simon Wachira @simonwachira

#BenCarson should visit Kenya but he should get his geography right. Turkanas are not in #Tanzania .Quite a goofy fellow!
5:29 AM - 8 Dec 2015




Dikembe @Disembe

Ben Carson should stick to America. If his alleged ancestors were Turkanas then they should be on the Kenya-Ethiopia NOT Kenya-TZ border!
1:38 AM - 8 Dec 2015

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Latiff Cherono‏@NairobiWP
"Because my ancestors are from the Kenya-Tanzania region, the Turkana tribe" #CarsonInKenya http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ben-carson-announces-foreign-policy-trip-to-africa/ …



This isn't the first time Carson has brought up his Kenyan background: Earlier this year, while defending his comment that Obamacare was the worst thing since slavery, Carson said he had a Turkana ancestor.

http://www.wnd.com/2015/12/now-ben-c..._orig=politics