Some Kenyans believe Obama ought to have come "home" first. Others, especially among critics of President Mwai Kibaki's government, say he has deliberately shunned the country to show U.S. disapproval of rampant corruption and nepotism in political circles here.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who comes from the Luo ethnic group like Obama's father, said it was wrong to read too much into Obama's itinerary, given that neither was he visiting other influential nations in the region like South Africa and Nigeria.

"Ghana is symbolic. It was the first African country to gain independence from Britain in 1957. Ghana is very advanced in its transition to democratic form of governance. So it is perfectly logical," he told Reuters.

"If Obama were to come to Kenya as the first country in Africa, it would send some very wrong signals that he is coming here merely because of some organic relationship that he has with this country. So in fact it is good."

Obama has been to Kenya several times, most recently as a senator in mid-2006. In a speech then, he took a strong line against corruption, which has plagued East Africa's largest economy for decades. "If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists - to protect them and promote their common welfare - then all else is lost. That is why the struggle of corruption is one of the great struggles of our time," he said.

That speech drew a sharp response from the government. Spokesman Alfred Mutua called Obama a young man who was "very poorly informed" and chided him for "lecturing" Kenyans. When Obama took power, however, the Kibaki government was so happy it announced a national holiday in his honour. The U.S. leader is wildly popular among all sectors of Kenyan society.

So should Obama have included Kenya on his Africa tour? Is he snubbing his ancestral homeland?

The passion on both sides reminded me of the torrent of deeply felt responses I used to receive when reporting on Fidel Castro from Cuba between 1998 and 2002.

Yet here I am again in Asmara, in May 2009, fresh from another lengthy interview with Eritrea’s ever-controversial leader. Whereas last year, he was quite formal with me, this time he was much more relaxed as we sat down for several hours in the colonial-era presidential palace, even poking fun before the interview at my old-fashioned tape-recorder.

We politely discussed hiking before getting down to business.

I questioned the president closely on plenty of issues, including Eritrea’s economic prospects and his views on various hot issues around the region. I was also able to discuss some of President Isaias’ life philosophy and thoughts on the past and future. Before I mentioned them, he anticipated inevitable questions on human rights and his own political longevity, saying he was used to visiting journalists raising such questions due to ‘misinformation’ from outside.

The interview was one of two dozen or so Eritrea’s leader has given in recent days in the run-up to Independence Day, mainly to African and Arab media. Eritrea feels it gets a raw deal in the international arena, and especially from the Western media. The marathon of interviews was an attempt to redress that.

I must have asked 20 or so questions over a 2 ½-hour period. Soon they’ll be playing the interview on state media here.

I’ll probably avoid looking at my emails for a few days.

With corruption scandals mounting and his government reeling from public disapproval, President Mwai Kibaki called his first news conference in years -- to talk about his wife.

To widespread bemusement,  he chose not to address national problems, but to rail against media stories that he had a second wife.

For many, the bizarre event symbolised a disconnect between leaders and people that is jeopardising a divided coalition government and fuelling disillusionment.

"Yeah, yeah. Who cares?" asks one woman in a camp for internal refugees, turning away from Kibaki on TV in a withering portrait by Kenya's leading political cartoonist, Gado.

People complain the unity government of Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga is simply failing them.

"We are dying and being killed. We are being repressed and oppressed ... And Kibaki talks about his personal life!" said commentator Keguro Macharia.

Some Kenyans predict the coalition will split. Others want a new election.

Yet with memories of last year's post-election violence still raw, and given Kibaki's survival of past crises, some analysts say the government will just limp along chaotically until a 2012 poll.

"It's a horrible conundrum," said a foreign diplomat in Nairobi. "Kenya obviously needs a fresh start, but that risks inviting in the demons again. The alternative is stagnation and paralysis for the next three years, which is sad."

Civil society groups say the coalition government is guilty of runaway corruption in almost every ministry.

The government is further provoking the public by failing to take seriously accusations that security forces have killed hundreds of people illegally, critics say. Thousands of students took to the streets on Tuesday in a protest against the alleged killings.

The disillusionment seems to have taken a generalised aspect beyond the usual tribal and party political lines.

"There is a revolutionary feeling," anti-graft activist Mwalimu Mati told Reuters.

In one survey last month, when Kenyans were asked what was the coalition's greatest achievement, 70 percent said none.

Another poll this week showed a third of Kenyans want a new election, although two-thirds also said they feared another round of violence at the next election.

Adding to the tense politics, Odinga's wing of government -- borne out of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement that says the Dec. 27 presidential election was stolen from it -- says Kibaki's side is riding roughshod over it.

Some members of Kibaki's Party of National Unity have told ODM to get out of government if they do not agree with its appointments, statements and decisions.

Odinga is in a bind, seeing his reputation fall fast as he is part of a non-reforming, under-performing government, but loath to go back into opposition.

His claim to moral authority has been dented, too, by accusations that one of his men, Agriculture Minister William Ruto, was responsible for kickbacks and corruption. Ruto denies the charges.

Odinga's frustration is obvious. After the murder of two rights activists last week, he even warned that Kenya was "hurtling towards failure as a state."

Kibaki has stayed largely silent and above the fray.

Plenty of government ministers and parliamentarians openly acknowledge that much is wrong in Kenya right now, although they accuse critics of exaggerating the problem for political ends.

For now, Kenya's common people, or "wanainchi" as they call themselves in Swahili, are pleading for more responsible government.

Maybe, some argue, it will never really be possible to eradicate such a lucrative business which, in one of the world's most failed states, offers an opportunity for poor and hungry men to become millionaires after a few successful raids. As one pirate told us, they will carry on until there is government again in Somalia.

The former England captain has millions of fans in China. He will appear in the Bird's Nest at the Olympics closing ceremony tonight, kicking a ball into the crowd from a red double-decker bus to symbolise the handover to London.

After a quick change into immaculate tie-and-jacket, Beckham popped on to a hotel balcony overlooking Tiananmen Square to see the sunset and have a chat with Reuters.

As something of a showboater himself, Beckham believes Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt has a right to celebrate his feats on the track despite criticism from the Olympics boss that his jubilant style shows disrespect for fellow athletes.

As a born-and-bred Londoner, Beckham is delighted the Olympics are coming home and thinks they can be even better than in China.

Is he right?

PHOTO: David Beckham plays a soccer match against West Ham United in Toronto July 24, 2008. REUTERS/Chris Young

The 2008 Beijing Olympics medal ceremonies might not produce anything to match that, but there has been no shortage of drama so far.

In the full emotional spectrum, we have had:

Anger - Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian stormed off the podium to dump his bronze on the mat in a protest against referees.

Tragedy - German weightlifter Matthias Steiner promised his dying wife he would honour her in Beijing, and clutched his gold next to a photo of her.

Confusion - Gymnastics fans still had their calculators out to decipher how American Nastia Liukin came second to China's He Kexin after their identical score of 16.725 was decided by a convoluted tiebreak system.

Joy - Russia's flamboyant pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva was bouncing up-and-down almost as much as she did for her world-record jump when she took her gold prize.

Bitterness - Britain's rowing quad were downcast and crying after the three-times world champions took dreaded silver instead of top spot.

Pain - Ouch! Turkey's greco-roman wrestler Nazmi Avluca had an ice-pack on his knee and needed assistance on and off the podium to collect his bronze.

Friendship - Georgian and Russian shooters and medal-winners embraced despite their nations' conflict. South and North Korean shooters shook hands too, though the latter was stripped of medals for doping.

Fortunately for the Chinese government, no medal winners have yet invoked the political spirit of Mexico to flash a "T" for Tibet.

With only a few days to go before the end, what have been your most moving medal moments in Beijing, or elsewhere in Olympic history?

PHOTO: Gold medallist Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia cries during the women's pole vault medal ceremony of the athletics competition in the National Stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 19, 2008. REUTERS/Mike Blake

Now I'm at the Olympics in Beijing, well, I think I still do... but I must admit this life-long credo is coming under severe strain.

Take events in the Water Cube. Until now, my best memories of ‘swimming' had been Stoke players splashing through the mud on Boxing Day 1984 to record a memorable 2-1 win over Manchester United.

But this week I've seen Michael Phelps in the flesh! The American phenomenon has had us all on our feet -- seasoned hacks like me, Chinese spectators, and even Phelps's own rivals -- smashing records as fast as Ronaldo will probably put goals past Stoke this year.

And did you see the 4x100 freestyle relay final? The fingertip finish was one of the most exciting moments of the Beijing Games, and surely in swimming history.

Then there was the opening basketball match: hosts China v an NBA star-studded USA. The place was rocking. Dare I say it, the atmosphere rivalled even the Britannia Stadium when we won promotion to the Premier League in May.

On my way to the press centre the other day, I grabbed a coffee and popped in to see the women's team gymnastics final. The girls' agility and jumps, the gasps at an occasional stumble and the thrill of China's gold medal over arch-rivals the United States, left my heart pounding as fast as the thousands of fans I was sitting with.

In this over-excited state, I tried to explain to a Chinese fan that I had not seen such artistry since Liam Lawrence and Ricardo Fuller combined to destroy Coventry away in April. But the allusion was, err, a tad cryptic.

Coming up is the biggest one of all -- the men's 100 metres final in the Bird's Nest stadium. But oh no, what's this? The race happens slap-bang in the middle of the opening Premier League game on Saturday. So what's it to be -- go to the Bird's Nest for the biggest race on earth, or find a quiet corner to listen to Bolton v Stoke on the Internet?

Such a dilemma...

PHOTO: Usain Bolt of Jamaica competes in the men's 100m heat at the National Stadium during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, August 15, 2008. REUTERS/Aly Song

The young man with classic good looks guarded the Olympic flame during its protest-ridden passage round the world. His prominent position (always standing second to the right of the flame) wrestling demonstrators and standing proudly next to the torch has brought him fame across China. 

"He is so hot and he is the pride of China! What more could a girl want?" wrote one female fan.

Second Brother's popularity has tapped into two cultural under-currents in China -- anger among many that foreign protests, mainly in favour of Tibetan independence, have tarnished their Olympics; and weariness with quickly-manufactured domestic pop and TV stars.

By contrast, Second Brother's embodiment of classic values is compared by fans to Lei Feng, an idolised soldier of the Mao Zedong era. Chinese guess Second Brother must be a policeman or soldier, but his real identity is a closely-guarded secret.

That's a shame for those queuing up to offer him homage and gifts, plus his many would-be wives.

PHOTO: A Beijing Olympic torch relay guard known as "Second Brother on the Right" poses for a photo on an airplane from Sanya to Beijing, May 4, 2008. Picture taken May 4, 2008. REUTERS/China Daily

Visitors arriving bleary-eyed and bad-tempered to China after gruelling long-distance flights are encountering a veritable people's army of astonishingly polite and disciplined volunteers who attend to our every whim and need.

When I got off the plane after a jetlag-inducing flight from East Africa, I found myself shepherded, as in a dream, from post-to-post by an array of smiling students. 'This way for your Olympic fast-track channel, sir ... your accreditation ... your bus ... your room ... your complimentary umbrella.' Some were already fluent in English, others shyly practising newly-learned phrases, crushed if I didn't understand first time.

On the bus into Beijing, I was the only passenger -- but three volunteers in their blue-and-white uniforms rode with me to check if I was comfortable and enjoying the view of pristine rows of flags and flowers in place for the Olympics.

Into a media village on the Olympic green, where about a dozen volunteers took me through a baffling array of security checks and cordons, I was too tired to respond to every respectful bow of the head.

Then, the shock: just as I was enjoying a deep sleep (3am Nairobi time), five 'housekeeping' volunteers burst in, trolleys clattering across a gleaming floor, to dust and wipe already spotless surfaces with vigour and smiles.

China is the world's most populous nation, and hundreds of thousands of patriotic young people offered to be Olympics volunteers.

A lucky 100,000 of them were chosen to attend Olympic sites -- that's three for every journalist, or ten for every athlete! Another 400,000 are dotted around Beijing to help an expected 2.5 million visitors.

I've had plenty of interesting conversations so far with the volunteers -- about the weather, the sports and my impressions of the city. An attempt to stray into politics, however, was politely rebuffed. "All countries have their positives and negatives, sir. We are no different. It rains a lot in August, you know -- did you receive your umbrella?"

PHOTO: Volunteers play with an Olympic "Fuwa" mascot in front of the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, in Beijing, July 28, 2008. REUTERS/Gil Cohen Magen

He is a household name, putting a smile on everybody's lips and spreading pride across the continent.

Now millions of Africans hope this son of a Kenyan father can turn his nomination to the Democratic presidential candidacy into a place in the White House.

But if he wins, is Barack Obama an answer to Africa's problems? 

Would an Obama-led USA prioritise issues of poverty, AIDS and trade in Africa? Or would bigger global conundrums like Iraq, the Middle East and the West's response to the rise of China take precedence as before?

Here are some views from around the continent.

So what tangible benefits would a black U.S. president bring to Africa? And what does Africa have to offer Obama? Have your say.