{{Malik Abongo Obama, the older half-brother of Barack Obama, is selling two handwritten letters from the US President to relatives and supporters back in Kenya for $15,000 each.}}
Both the undated letters on a White House letterhead say “Thanks for your prayers and support” and are signed “B.O.”
One is legibly addressed to “The People of K’Ogelo,” while the other appears to have the heading, “To the People of K’Obama.”
London’s Daily Mail reported on Thursday that President Obama sent the letters shortly after a few of his Kenyan relatives flew to Washington for his January 2009 inauguration.
Malik is offering the letters for sale through an autograph collector website, momentsintime.com.
The New York Post, which first reported the offer to sell the letters, quotes US collector Gary Zimet as saying, “I wrote to Malik and didn’t know if I would get a response. I was astonished when I did.”
“I sent a letter to a post office box in Kenya. I asked him if he had any letters from his brother. I didn’t expect to hear from him ever, but he wrote back and said, ‘I have two letters.’”
Mr Zimet told the Post, “These letters show great interest on the President’s part in his family.” He added that he “didn’t go too much into Malik’s relationship with his half-brother.”
“I got a sense it was cordial, but not overly warm.”
Malik set up an American charity in 2008 reportedly to support poor Kenyans as his brother was running for office.
He vied for political office in Kenya at the last election in March but fared poorly.
{NMG}
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