Also his great uncle was Jomo Kenyatta, the President of Kenya for two decades. Maybe his politics are a way of getting back at his father. During the Cold War, Kenya was one of our staunchest allies in Africa, still are. Kenyatta was one of only a few anti-Communist leaders in Africa during this time. I believe the US Navy maintained a base in Mombasa for a presence in the Indian Ocean. Today the Kenyan military is at war with the Jihadis in Somalia.
I had a college friend from The Gambia. I believe their entire army fought with the allies in WW2 — perhaps less than a dozen individuals — but the U.S. had an airstrip in the capital city?