Sarah Obama, former US President Barack Obama’s grandmother dies in Kisumu aged 99, family says
Sarah Onyango Obama (born c. 1921–1922) was a Kenyan educator and philanthropist.Died in the March 2021. She was the third wife of the paternal grandfather of U.S. president Barack Obama. She was known for short as Sarah Obama; she was sometimes referred to as Sarah Ogwel, Sarah Hussein Obama, or Sarah Anyango Obama. She lives in Nyang’oma Kogelo village, 30 miles west of western Kenya‘s main town, Kisumu, on the edge of Lake Victoria.
Although she is not a blood relation, Barack Obama calls her “Granny Sarah” Sarah, who speaks Luo and only a few words of English, communicates with President BObama through an interpreter.
On July 4, 2008, Sarah Obama attended the United States Independence Day celebrations in Nairobi, hosted by Michael Ranneberger, the U.S. ambassador in Kenya.
During the U.S. presidential campaign, she protested attempts to portray Obama as a foreigner to the United States or as a Muslim, saying that while Obama’s grandfather had been a Muslim, “In the world of today, children have different religions from their parents.” Sarah Obama is “a strong believer of the Islamic faith”, in her words.
On November 19, 2014, Sarah Obama received the Pioneer Award from the United Nations for the work of an education foundation that she heads, as a part of Women’s Entrepreneurship Day
