Obama’s grandmother dead

Former US President Barack Obama’s grandmother Mama Sarah Onyango Obama has died at the age of 99.

Mama Sarah Obama died at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) in Kisumu.

She succumbed to diabetes at  4:20am.

Her family noted she had been battling diabetes for three years.

Mama Sarah’s daughter Masat Obama Onyango said Obama’s step-grandmother has been in hospital since last week.

She was first admitted at Avenue Hospital in Kisumu.

She would then be transferred to JOOTRH.

Family spokesman Sheikh Musa Ismail confirmed Mama Sarah Obama would be laid to rest before midday March 30 in Kogelo, Siaya County.

Sheikh Ismail denied claims Mama Sarah Obama had succumbed to Covid19.

“She was tested on Sunday and the results were negative. She didn’t die of Covid19,” he said.

She was the second in the family of 12 children, and the third wife of Hussein Obama.

Mama Sarah Obama became prominent in 2008 when Obama won the US presidency, becoming the first black to hold the most powerful position on earth.

Obama has visited Kenya twice in the past five years — as president in 2015 and as ex-president in 2018.