Obama granny gets academic honours
US President Barack Obama's grandmother may not have seen the inside of a lecture hall but hence forth, she is Dr Sarah Obama.
The Great Lakes University of Kisumu (GLUK) conferred the 87 year old granny a honorary Doctorate of Letters during its fourth annual graduation ceremony held on Monday.
She was awarded for engaging in charity and for her passion to feed and educate the less fortunate in the society.
She has also been at the forefront fighting for the rights of widows and those who live in difficulty, according to the university.
As the university’s acting chancellor Prof Dan Kaseje pronounced the words “…and by my authority and that of the entire university, I give you the power to read and do all that appertain to this degree”, song and dance broke out from the friends and relatives who had accompanied her to the ceremony.
But the freshly minted doctor had to address the congregation in her mother tongue, Dholuo, because she was unable to speak in English.
That honorary doctorate made Mama Sarah to share the academic platform with greats like Mr Ato Seyoun Mesfin, the Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr Brimmy Olaghere, the founder chairman of the US African Development Consortium World Group and US Senator Larry Womble who were also feted at the occasion.
Mr Mesfin was awarded for his role in peace building in Africa while Prof Oleghere was feted for his role in the promotion of African integration and infrastructure development.
Senator Womble from North Carolina was recognised for his efforts to improve literary standards in the country through book donations and aiding construction of classrooms.
130 Graduands
During last year’s ceremony, the university conferred a similar honour on Southern Sudan leader Salva Kiir.
The graduation ceremony saw 130 graduands receive masters, bachelors, and diploma and certificate qualifications.
In her acceptance speech, Mama Obama thanked the university for recognising her effort in helping the less fortunate in society but was quick to add that the resources she uses are donated by people of goodwill from all over the world.
The third wife of the late Barack Hussein Obama, the grandfather to the US President Obama, Mama Obama has been catapulted to the limelight ever since the eloquence of the then junior Illinois Senator caught the world attention and his eventual ascendance to the White House.
Among other title she holds includes being the goodwill ambassador against malnutrition and has been the face of the efforts to eradicate tsetse fly.
In the citation, the GLUK vice chancellor Prof Richard Muga described her as “exuding warm presence with a knack for charity and passion to feed and educate the less fortunate in the society.
“She has championed the rights of widows and those who live in difficulty. She gains access to linkages which she has used unselfishly to help the village.”
Medical Services Minister Prof Anyang Nyong’o described her as “a library of knowledge with a sense of commitment to liberate her community from poverty through philanthropy and knowledge generation".
