Barack Obama pays tribute to 'Mama Sarah': 'We will celebrate her life'

Former US president Barack Obama has described his late step-grandmother Sarah Onyango Obama as a pillar of their family, and a loving mother who raised eight children, including his father.

He said 'Mama Sarah' raised his father lovingly despite not being his biological mother. He attributed her love and encouragement in part as the reason his father did well in school and earned himself a scholarship to study in America.

Obama said Sarah helped him find closure and better understand his father and heritage.

“When I first travelled 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,” he captioned a picture of him with his grandmother.

Sarah died on Monday morning in a hospital in Kisumu, Kenya, aged 99. Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta conveyed condolences to the Obama family. He said Sarah will be remembered for her philanthropic work.

“The passing away of Mama Sarah is a big blow to our nation. We've lost a strong, virtuous woman. A matriarch who held together the Obama family and was an icon of family values,” he said.