Nyang’oma Kogelo was yesterday thrown into mourning as the body of Mama Sarah Obama who died in the morning arrived ahead of the burial slated for today.
The sombre mood engulfed the village as friends and relatives trooped to Mama Sarah’s home to see the body and offer their condolences.
The Luo dirges rented the air, as some of the mourners carrying huge clubs and other traditional paraphernalia performed mock fights with death which they accused of plucking a respected woman from their midst.
The body of Mama Sarah Obama, the grandmother of the former U.S president, Barrack Obama, arrived in a white hearse and was taken to her house for preparations.
According to the chairman of the burial committee, Sheikh Musa Ishmael Haji, the deceased will be interred today.
Sheikh Musa who is also the chairman of the Kisumu Muslim Association told the media at Kogelo that they had planned to inter the body yesterday as per the Islamic traditions but had to give in to family request that they be allowed to bury her today.
Mama Sarah, 99 years, passed on at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kisumu on Monday morning after falling sick.
By Philip Onyango
