Sarah Hussein Onyango Obama, the step-grandmother of former US President Barack Obama, died on Monday morning at age 99, her family announced.
Marsat Onyango, the daughter of Mama Sarah Obama, told the media that her mother had been ailing for some time and died while undergoing treatment at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kisumu county.
Mama Sarah was the third wife of Hussein Obama, Barack Obama's father.
Sheikh Musa Ismail Haji, Chairman of the Kisumu Muslim Association, said Mama Sarah Obama will be buried tomorrow morning at her home in Kogelo according to Muslim religious customs, according to Kenyan Citizen TV.
In a condolences message, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said: “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. She was a loving and celebrated philanthropist who graciously shared the little she had with the less fortunate in her community,” he said.
In July 2018, US President Barack Obama visited his ancestral village in Kenya and participated in a traditional dance with his grandmother and half-sister Auma Obama.