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The day former US president had ‘the last dance’ with grandmother

Former US President Barack Obama (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)

On June 16, 2018, the sleepy Kogelo village in Siaya County was bubbling with excitement as their son, former US president Barack Obama, was visiting.

Obama was the chief guest during the launch of his half sister Auma Obama’s Sauti Kuu (Powerful Voices) Foundation Sports, Resource and Vocational Training Centre.

The former president walked into the tent where some women were performing a Luo cultural dance and sat next to his grandmother, Mama Sarah Obama.

Soon he was asked to join the dancers and made some moves before his grandmother joined him amid ululations from the crowd.

Not even Auma could have stopped Mama Sarah from rising to the occasion.

On this day, Obama was presented with a ceremonial goat in the presence of his grandmother.

Carry a sack

The former president had last visited the village in 2006 when he was the Senator for Illinois State in the US.

His trip to Kenya in 2006 was part of a 17-day, six-nation tour of Africa.

When Obama first visited the village in 1987, he was photographed helping his grandmother to carry a sack of vegetables. 

Mama Sarah, in a past interview, recounted how the photo was taken.

She said: “I had told him that he might not be able to manage, but he insisted. When other boys saw him carrying the sack, they were surprised that I had found someone to help. I told them off for not helping me.”

“I found a young man to help me, so learn from him. And that is when someone took our photo,” Mama Sarah said.