Hussein Onyango Obama, Mr Obama’s paternal grandfather, became involved in the Kenyan
independence movement while working as a cook for a British army officer after the war.
He was arrested in 1949 and jailed for two years in a high-security prison where, according
to his family, he was subjected to horrific violence to extract information about the growing
insurgency.
Barack Obama’s grandfather was imprisoned and brutally tortured by the British during the
violent struggle for Kenyan independence.
“The African warders were instructed by the white soldiers to whip him every morning and
evening till he confessed,” said Sarah Onyango, Hussein Onyango’s third wife, the woman
Mr Obama refers to as “Granny Sarah”.
“He said they would sometimes squeeze his testicles with parallel metallic rods. They also
pierced his nails and buttocks with a sharp pin, with his hands and legs tied together with
his head facing down.
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