Former United States President Barack Obama’s grandmother Mama Sarah Anyango Obama, is dead.
According to local media, her daughter Marsat Obama confirmed that her mother died at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital, Kisumu at 4.45am on Monday. Reports indicate that the old lady was admitted to the hospital on Sunday morning.
“The passing away of Mama Sarah is a big blow to our nation. We’ve lost a strong, virtuous woman. A matriarch who held together the Obama family and was an icon of family values,” Kenyan resident Uhuru Kenyatta wrote on social media.
“In the passing of Mama Sarah Obama, we lost a matriach who lived ahead of her time. She single-handedly kept family going long after the husband departed” Kenya’s opposition leader Raila Odinga tweeted on Monday.
The family is making arrangements to have her buried today (Monday) at the Muslim Cemetery in Kisumu -reports added.
Obama last visited his grandmother in July 2018 during his tour to Kenya.
Although she was not a blood relation, Barack Obama called her “Granny Sarah”. Sarah, who spoke Luo and only a few words of English, communicated with President Obama through an interpreter.