Mama Sarah was the third wife of US president's paternal
grandfather, Hussein Onyango Obama, and lives in the small village of Kogelo in
western Kenya which is home to a number of the president's relatives.
"With regards to what food I will prepare for Barack on
his visit, I will prepare all the traditional food available," she said, speaking her Luo language through a
translator on a visit to Nairobi.
She tempted him with the offer of dishes including fish,
chicken and maize porridge.
"It does not matter whether Barack is a senator or a president," she added. "He will have what I have prepared for him."
She said she had asked him to travel to Kogelo "to pay
respect to his father's grave", but it was not clear if Obama was
scheduled to travel outside the capital Nairobi.
Obama's late father was born in Kogelo and grew up there
before travelling abroad to study, where he met Obama's American mother in
Hawaii.
Although Mama Sarah is not a blood relative, Obama calls her
"granny" and has visited her in the past. It will be Obama's fourth visit to Africa since becoming US
president, but his first to Kenya since taking office in 2009.
A presidential visit to Kenya had been put on hold while
President Uhuru Kenyatta faced charges of crimes against humanity for his role
in 2007-2008 post-election violence. The International Criminal Court has since suspended that
prosecution, citing a lack of evidence and Kenya's failure to cooperate.
After Kenya, Obama then travels on to neighbouring Ethiopia,
where he will become the first sitting American leader to visit. Ethiopia's
capital Addis Ababa also hosts the headquarters of the African Union, the
54-nation continental bloc.
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