With former US President Barrack Obama’s third visit to the country, one name is on the lips of many Kenyans.
They are asking, who is Dr. Auma Obama?
The talented orator is Barrack’s older half-sister who first shot into the limelight in 2015 when Obama first visited Kenya, his motherland, as the sitting US President.
She received him at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and was treated to a spectacular ride in the coveted armoured presidential car christened the “Beast”.
Fast forward to today, she has won many hearts in organising Obama’s low key visit to his native home, K’Ogelo, Siaya County for the launch of Sauti Kuu Foundation which she founded.
Auma was born in Kenya, Nairobi precisely in 1960.
Dr. Auma Obama. [Photo Bethwell Amollo]
She attended her early stages of education here before flying out to Germany in 1981 where she enrolled for an undergraduate course at the University of Heidelberg.
With her undying thirst for education, she enrolled at the University of Bayreuth for her graduate degree and by 1996, she was a Ph.D. holder.
When she returned to Kenya, she thrust herself into empowering youths through CARE International, an organization that centred its focus on the growth and development of youths through sports and other social activities.
In 2012, her autobiography titled “And Then Life Happens” was published. She is a serving patron of the International Storymoja Festival that nurtures young talents into the literal world.
Former US President Barrack Obama with his older half-sister Barrack Obama in K'Ogello, Siaya. [Photo/Bethwell Amollo]
Today, the mother of one, filled with the drive to see young people succeed in life, saw her Sauti Kuu Foundation in K’Ogello launched by her younger half-brother who until January last year, served as the world’s most powerful president.
"People worry so much about having so many young people on the African continent jobless, idle. I don’t worry about having many young people on the African continent. I see them as an opportunity, not a problem. They are not a challenge, we adults are the problem,” she remarked in her maiden speech.
She urged youths to take up opportunities available in the quest to better their lives and create job opportunities for others.