Barack Obama Pays Tribute to 'Beloved Grandmother' After Her Death
Former president Barack Obama has paid tribute to his "beloved grandmother" after her death at 99.
Sarah Obama died while undergoing treatment at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kisumu, Kenya on Monday.
She was the second wife of Hussein Obama, the former president's paternal grandfather and helped raise his father Barack Obama Sr.
"My family and I are mourning 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," the former president wrote in a tribute posted on Twitter Monday morning, alongside a picture of the pair.
"We will miss her dearly, but we'll celebrate with gratitude her long and remarkable life."
My family and I are mourning 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. We will miss her dearly, but we’ll celebrate with gratitude her long and remarkable life. pic.twitter.com/avDY4f1PVu
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 29, 2021
Obama recalled meeting Sarah Obama for the first time during a trip to Kenya in the 1980s in his memoir Dreams From My Father.
He detailed how they awkwardly communicated through an interpreter because she spoke Luo.
Kenya's president Uhuru Kenyatta was among those who gave tribute to Sarah Obama, who founded the The Mama Sarah Obama Foundation to help ensure children in her native Kenya get an education.
"The passing away of Mama Sarah is a big blow to our nation," Kenyatta said in a statement. "We've lost a strong, virtuous woman. A matriarch who held together the Obama family and was an icon of family values."
He added: "She was a loving and celebrated philanthropist who graciously shared the little she had with the less fortunate in her community."
Raila Odinga, Kenya's former president, said in a statement posted on Twitter that "we have lost a matriarch who lived ahead of her time. She single-handedly kept the family going long after the husband departed."
Odinga added: "In between, she became a symbol of the Resilience and Confidence of the African woman with a unique capacity to face the challenges of life. She utilized her grandson President @BarackObama's rise to promote the education of girls and fight social ills through her Foundation."
Anne Waiguru, the governor of Kenya's Kirinyaga County, added: "My heartfelt condolences to the entire Obama family, people of Kogelo and county of Siaya on the loss of Mama Sarah Obama. May you find strength and encouragement in fond memories of her during this time."
