January 13, 2009	Tuesday	Muharram 15, 1430

NAIROBI, Jan 12: A three-legged stool and a traditional Luo oxtail fly whisk are some of the household items that could bring a new feel to the Oval Office, courtesy of Barack Obama’s Kenyan grandmother.

Sarah Obama, who at 86 still lives in a modest house in the family’s ancestral village of Kogelo, has been packing presents ahead of her grandson’s Jan 20 inauguration as the 44th president of the United States.

Quoted in the Standard newspaper on Monday she said she had hoped to bring him a traditional spear and shield from her Luo tribe when she flies to Washington on Friday with some other family members.

“But I have been told that due to security reasons I will not be allowed to board a plane with it,” she explained.

Sarah Obama, the president-elect’s step grandmother, has become a national celebrity since the Illinois senator — the Hawaiian-born son of a Kenyan father and white American mother — launched his bid for the White House.

“The day I was waiting for has finally come... I cannot hide my joy,” she said. “I am going to be Kenya’s ambassador during the occasion and I will live up to the expectations.” Kenya’s Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula will head a government delegation for a pre-inauguration bash organised by African diplomatic missions in the US.—AFP