Barack Obama is in mourning after the death of his grandmother, «Mama Sarah»

• Barack Obama shares sad news on his social networks
• The former US president is in mourning after the death of his grandmother «Mama Sarah»
• «We will miss her very much, but we will gratefully celebrate her long and extraordinary life,» he said.

In the early hours of today, former US President Barack Obama shared sad news on his social networks, for which he is in mourning: his grandmother, known as “Mama Sarah” and who lived in Kenya, passed away. at 99 years of age.

It was through his official account Instagram, where he is about to reach 35 million followers, that Barack Obama shared an image in which he appears accompanied by Sarah Obama, the woman he considered his grandmother and whom he met in the late eighties.

«We are going to miss her a lot»: Barack Obama

«Me family and I mourn the loss of our beloved grandmother, Sarah Ogwel Onyango Obama, affectionately known to many as ‘Mama Sarah’ but known to us as ‘Dani’ or Granny, commented the former US president.

In another part of his message, he shared that «Mama Sarah», who was born in Nyanza province, on the shores of Lake Victoria, in the first quarter of the last century, did not have a education Formal and, in the manner of her tribe, she married a much older man when she was only a teenager. Rest in peace.

«We are devastated»

According to information from the AP, Barack Obama’s grandmother, who promoted education for girls and orphans in her rural village of Kogelo, passed away around 4 a.m. local time while receiving treatment at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Hospital in Kisumu, the third largest Kenyan city in the west of the country.

His daughter Marsat Onyango was in charge of delivering this news: “He died this morning. We are devastated. » For his part, Sheikh Musa Ismail, a spokesman for the family, said that «Mama Sarah» suffered from normal illnesses, but did not die of coronavirus.

Barack Obama sent his condolences

Former US President Barack Obama was informed of the death of his grandmother Sarah Obama and sent his condolences, Sheikh Musa Ismail said. She will be buried on Tuesday before noon and the funeral will be held under Islamic rites.

“The passing of Mama Sarah is a great blow to our nation. We have lost a strong and virtuous woman, a matriarch who held the Obama family together and was an icon of family values, ”said President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Obama showed him affection

Sarah Obama, affectionately known as “Mama Sarah,” was the second wife of former President Barack Obama’s grandfather and helped raise her father, Barack Obama, Sr. The family is part of the Luo ethnic group in Kenya, the AP reported.

Obama often showed her affection and referred to her as «Granny» in his biography, «My Father’s Dreams.» He described meeting her during his 1988 trip to his father’s homeland, which became a warm bond.

He was present at the swearing-in of Barack Obama

Sarah Obama attended Barack Obama’s first swearing-in as US president in 2009. Obama spoke again about his grandmother in his September 2014 speech to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.

For decades, Sarah Obama helped orphans, raising some at home. The Mama Sarah Obama Foundation helped provide food and education to children who lost their parents, providing school supplies, uniforms, basic medical necessities, and school fees.

«The man with the glasses is his father»

According to information from El País, during Obama’s trip to Kenya in the late 1980s, his grandmother told him a lot about his father and grandfather Onyango: “Look, the man with the glasses in the photo he is his father ”.

Obama’s grandfather was an authoritarian man, compliant with tribal traditions, including polygamy and beatings: «He paid the dowry of several young women, but when they were lazy or broke something, he beat them recklessly.»

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