Officers are patrolling around the clock at the home of Sarah Obama, the third
wife of Mr
Obama’s paternal grandfather, in Kogelo, a village in western
Kenya.
Security is said to have been enhanced in response to a specific threat from
Al Shabaab, Somali Islamists linked to al-Qaeda, following the death of
Osama bin Laden.
"We received reports of plans to attack the home of Mama Sarah Obama and we
immediately put in place adequate security measures," Stephen Cheteka, the
local police chief, told Africa Review.
Fears for Mrs Obama are thought to have further increased in the 10 days since
bin Laden’s assassination, prompting a steadily rising number of officers at
the property.
One police chief reportedly told ABC News that he now had enough officers "to
patrol the entire village".
Mrs Obama, whose full name is Sarah Anyango Obama, is believed to have been
born in 1922, and is known by the president as Granny Sarah. She is a
non-practicing Muslim.
Al Shabaab - aka ’The Youth’ - is an insurgency that has been at war with
Somalia’s western-backed government for several years.
One of its most prominent members is Omar Hammami, who is also known as Abu
Mansur al-Amriki or The American, and produces pro-jihadist rap music.
Mr Obama met his grandmother during his first visit to Kenya, at the age of
27. He is believed to have visited twice since then. Mrs Obama is thought to
have visited the US twice.
She has said that while she is close to the president, they still have to
communicate via an interpreter because she speaks no English.
As news of her grandson spread locally in the approach to the 2008
presidential election, a stream of would-be migrants arrived at her door,
seeking an American visa to allow them to leave Kenya.
Reporters who visited Mrs Obama in the approach to the election discovered she
had a photo of herself and a young Mr Obama on display in her home.
She also had a poster for his first Senatorial election campaign, on which he
had written "Habariuku Mama Sarah", which is Swahili for "Hello Granny
Sarah".
Last week Mohamed Kalaf, a senior Al-Shabaab commander, vowed revenge against
the US following the death of bin Laden. "We shall make them regret," he
told a press conference in Mogadishu.
