Our thoughts and prayers are with the Obama family at this time.
The matriarch of the family, Sarah Obama passed away at the age of 99. Also known as Mama Obama, she was Barack Obama’s step-grandmother and she played a huge part in his life.
According to reports:
She died at roughly 4 in the morning local time Monday (March 29th) while receiving treatment at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral hospital in Kisumu. Her daughter Marsat Onyango told The Associated Press. It was not COVID-19 related.
A spokesman for the family says, “Mama was sick with normal diseases.”
The former POTUS released a statement sharing his condolences.
“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.”
He continued,
“Although not his birth mother, Granny would raise my father as her own, and it was in part thanks to her love and encouragement that he was able to defy the odds and do well enough in school to get a scholarship to attend an American university. When our family had difficulties, her homestead was a refuge for her children and grandchildren, and her presence was a constant, stabilizing force. When I first traveled to Kenya to learn more about my heritage and father, who had passed away by then, it was Granny who served as a bridge to the past, and it was her stories that helped fill a void in my heart. …”