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Republican Presidential Candidate Ben Carson To Visit ‘Homeland’ Kenya

by Milicent Atieno
Republican Presidential Candidate Ben Carson To Visit ‘Homeland’ Kenya

Benjamin Solomon ‘Ben’ Carson, Sr., a U.S. Republican Presidential candidate and retired neurosurgeon, is set to tour Kenya, where he claims to trace his ancestral roots. Carson will also visit Nigeria and Zambia on his week-long tour of the Africa Continent starting December 27.

Back in July, Carson made claims that he did his research and discovered his ancestral roots are somewhere in the Kenya-Tanzania regions, specifically among the Turkana tribe. Carson said the following while talking to a U.S. radio host Hugh Hewitt in a Monday interview:

I think a lot of our policy in the future is going to affect Africa. But I’m going to those three countries in particular because my ancestors are from the Kenya-Tanzania region, the Turkana tribe. I’ve had all of that traced back.”

Carson believes the tour will enable him to make better decisions based on things he has seen firsthand as opposed to getting just filtered information. While in Nigeria, Carson will visit a local medical school named after him.

I want to get an idea from the people what the effects of the Boko Haram are, what people are thinking, to see what the economic situation is there.”

Carson’s will also visit Zambia where he will check on the Banda twins, to whom he played a great role in their surgical separation.

We separated them. They were joined at the top of the head facing in opposite directions almost 18 years ago, and this is the year they graduate from high school.”

Carson recently visited a Syrian refugee camp; an experience he says cemented his conviction to resettle Syrians fleeing the violence they face in the Middle East. He believes that Syrians prefer returning to their homeland contrary to what anti-immigration supporters may believe.

While talking to The Associated Press during a phone interview from Jordan, Carson said, “I did not detect any great desire for them to come to the United States.”

He also said, “By going over to Jordan and actually talking to the Syrians and really getting their perspective on things. I saw it was very different from what we hear in the media. And it makes a difference.”

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