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African Regional News Updates |
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23 April 2009 Fanatic Protestant church in Kenya
is trying to convert US President Barack Obama's
step-grandmother to Christianity against her will, a
Muslim group said Monday, condemning the move as
provocation.
The Black African dogmatic Christians calling
themselves the Seventh Day Adventist church in the
western town of Kisumu had invited 87-year-old Sarah
Obama -- a Muslim -- to a function on Saturday, where
she was allegedly to be baptised.
According to relatives in her village of Kogelo,
"Mama Sarah", as she is popularly known in the US
president's paternal homeland, was surprised by the
offer and declined to attend.
"I regret the attempt by the Christian religion to
force her to convert," said Sheikh Mohamed Khalifa,
the organising secretary of the Council of Imams and
Preachers of Kenya.
"Why only her? Why not before Obama became
president? Didn't they see her before he became
president?" he said.
Said Obama, a step-brother to the US president,
said the church pastors had approached Sarah Obama
with news that she could become a Christian.
"Mama (Sarah) was born a Muslim and wishes to die a
Muslim. The issue of conversion is neither here not
there," he said.
Khalifa denounced the move as a "provocation."
"They don't have permission from Jesus to convert
someone. I challenge them to quote a verse from the
Bible allowing them to convert someone," he said.
Sarah became a national celebrity when her grandson
visited the country in 2006 and her modest homestead
has become a tourist attraction since the former
Illinois senator's November 2008 election triumph.
The Kenyan government last month declared Kogelo a
protected national heritage site. |
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