Nairobi — Despite his demonic reputation outside the United States, President George W. Bush has not been too unkind to Africa though, as with all his predecessors, he is full of promises that are rarely followed through.

On the eve of his lightning five-day African tour last year, Bush announced an American commitment of US$15 billion for Aids programmes in Africa. The figure was stunning because it was the largest ever commitment made by a US President to the poorest continent. Even Bob Geldof, the Irish rock musician who organised the "Band Aid" concerts to raise money for the victims of the 1984 Ethiopian famine, and who is no friend of Bush's right-wing policies, proclaimed the figure to be the "best deal ever" from America to Africa.

But like so many things American, the money remains largely a promise. Much of it is held up in Congressional budget red-tape as well as the Bush administration's insistence on so-called 'faith-based' programmes that frown on widespread condom use in favour of abstinence.

In addition to the AIDS money, it is under Bush's watch that the Millenium Challenge Account was conceived. It is a fund, worth US$10 billion, which is meant to benefit African countries which adhere to good governance and sound economic policies. For some reason, Kenya has yet to qualify for this fund.

Among the rich donor countries, America has not ranked very high in its largesse to Kenya. In fact, as a proportion of her gigantic GNP (US$10.9 trillion), her foreign aid budget as a whole is quite puny. But America's significance assumes another dimension when it comes to her unparalleled influence with the World Bank and the IMF, which are the institutions that really matter to Kenya and other African countries as far as budgetary support is concerned.

The windfall in direct American economic aid the Narc government had hoped for has not materialised. Those hopes were high as Bush rolled out the red carpet treatment - complete with a full-court White House state dinner - for President Kibaki when he visited Washington in October last year.

Clearly the US has not been particularly impressed with Narc's performance, ranging from the slow pace of privatisation and even the fight against corruption. Indeed, US ambassador to Kenya William Bellamy defended his British counterpart William Clay in the wake of the latter's notorious Kenya-is-vomiting-on-our-shoes speech made in July.

Last year, USAID advanced US$25 million to Kenya to support Narc's much-hyped economic recovery programme. It wasn't the dramatic boost the Kenya government expected. A sharp spike had been recorded after the 1998 Nairobi bomb blast, when America gave US$56.1 million to help Kenyan bomb victims.

Many of the victims however remain unsatisfied with the amounts of compensation given.

Whoever wins on Tuesday, America's immediate focus in Africa is likely to be western Sudan's Darfur. US Secretary of State Colin Powell recently pronounced the political-humanitarian crisis there as "genocide."

The US evidently is not as animated about engagement in Somalia, despite its backing the peace process that recently saw the election in Nairobi of a government after 13 years. The US wariness goes back to its unpleasant experience in Mogadishu in 1993, when 18 of her troops were killed and their bodies dragged through the streets by militiamen.

Still, the United States has an acute interest in Somalia for another reason: she fears the lawless country could become a perfect hiding place for Al-Qaeda types.

America is wary of armed interventions in Africa generally. A very limited exception was Liberia, a country founded by American freed slaves in 1822. Last year, as civil war raged there, the US dispatched a small force of 1,000 peacekeepers to serve as part of . They served as part of a larger West African peace-keeping force put together by ECOWAS.

In addition to the US navy keeping a close eye on Somalia from the Indian ocean, the United States has initiated joint military training programmes and exercises with troops from neighbouring countries, including Kenya, meant to develop a rapid response force in times of regional need.

Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, it must be said, enjoys overwhelming goodwill in Africa, as he does in most places outside the United States, though precious few Africans know or care what makes him tick. In any case this has little to do with a sentimental connection he has with the continent through his wife Teresa Heinz, who was born in Mozambique and educated in SA's University of Witwatersrand. Could this link probably translate into concrete rewards for Africa if Kerry wins on Tuesday?

Bush's African tour in July last year took him to Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda and Nigeria. Each stop was selected carefully. SA, of course, is a mandatory stop for high-level US visitors, as is Nigeria which is the most populous African state as well as the leading African oil exporter to the United States. Botswana and Senegal were picked for their widely admired democratic credentials.

But Nelson Mandela snubbed Bush for his invasion of Iraq and just before Bush got there, he left for London.

Kenya was omitted from the itinerary due to what was claimed to be "security concerns." In Narc, the decision was met with gritted teeth. On a visit to Washington prior to the tour, National Security Minister Chris Murungaru had vainly pleaded with officials he met there for the decision to be reconsidered. It was not.

One of the vexed issues between Kenya and the US is about the travel advisories the latter issued last year, alleging that Kenya was unsafe. The most hit has been the tourism sector. But recent statements from the authorities suggest the damage has not been as bad as would have been expected, and in fact it now transpires many American tourists have come visiting in defiance of the advisory.