Maathai

KENYAN PROFESSOR

WINS NOBEL PRIZE

by Joseph Ojwang

Born in 1940 in the Nyeri district of Kenya, Professor Wangari Maathai earned her biology degree from Mount St. Scholastica College in Kansas and a master's degree at the University of Pittsburgh. It was unheard of for girls in rural areas to pursue higher education. She returned to Kenya where she worked as a veterinary medicine researcher at the University of Nairobi (UoN), and eventually earned her Ph.D. there. She later headed the veterinary medicine faculty in UoN, making her the first woman to chair any department at that university.

Her husband divorced her in the early 1980's citing her stubbornness. He ran for Parliament in the 1970s, while Wangari was organizing employment for poor people. Eventually her organizing became a national grass-roots movement, providing work and improving the environment at the same time.

Maathai founded the Green Belt movement in Kenya in 1977. She has helped plant over 30 million trees to prevent the high rate of soil erosion in the country. The program still exists and has been carried out primarily by women in the villages of Kenya.

She entered Kenyan politics in 1997 and was defeated after her sponsored party withdrew her candidacy a few days before the general elections without her consent.

In 1998 she came to the world's attention when she confronted then Kenyan president Daniel Arap Moi about his directive to clear hundreds of acres of Kenyan forest for a luxury housing project development.

She won the case and the KANU party withdrew the housing plan. But Moi declared war on her through provincial administration, and environment ministers also accused her of being a tool of foreigners and inciting the public to hate the government.

Her defiance led to her numerous arrests by the Moi government. On one occasion she was released due to a letter writing campaign initiated by Amnesty International.

And in 2002, she returned to politics and won Tetu parliamentary seat on a Democratic Party ticket (DP). The current DP president Mwai Kibaki appointed her in 2003 to the position of assistant minister in the ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife.

The 64-year-old legislator recently threatened to resign from her post should the government give the go ahead to the Shamba system, which would allow more forest cultivation.

The Nobel Peace Prize award comes at a time when Professor Maathai is said to be at loggerheads with her constituents for obstructing the revival of the Shamba system.

"I will cherish the prize with my constituents even though they have threatened to pull me out [in 2007 general election] due to my stand on environment. And this will be an example to them why we advocate for environment conservation," she said moments after receiving news that she was nominated for the top a ward.

The announcement of her prize came when she was deep into her Tetu constituency meeting with various community stakeholders, mapping out viable development projects for the community. She was airlifted to the capital city Nairobi on orders of president Mwai Kibaki who was the first person to congratulate her for her good achievement.

Prof. Maathai now stands tall among the finest sons and daughters of Africa after being the first woman in the entire continent ever to win theNobel Peace Prize.

She joins the roll call of other African leaders who have also won the peace prize, includingNelson Mandela former South African president, Archbishop Desmond Tutu from South Africa, Novel writer Wole Soyinka, United Nations General Secretary Koffi Annan, Anwar Saddat former president of Egypt, Fredrick de Klerk former South African president and Albert Luthuli former leader of the African National Congress (ANC).

In addition to being a leader, the mother of three has been an academician, an environmentalist and a politician. And she said, "I could not have received it in a better place, at the foot of Mount Kenya, the mountain that has been my greatest inspiration in my work".

With Kshs. 110 million Professor Maathai asked God to help her spend the money wisely, saying that part of it would be pumped back to her constituency to help grow more trees in the area, close to president Mwai Kibaki's home.

Prof. Maathai has set the ball rolling for the upcoming environmental movement in Africa. And her award should inspire Africans for many years to come.

Joseph Ojwang is Change-Links correspondent in Kenya.

A request from Joseph

I am planning to pursue a three year course in Advanced Diploma Journalism at St. Augustine University of Tanzania. From my high school in 2001, I embarked on writing, and in the modern world of today, you won't be a profession without any prior course study.

It is now my humble request to help me get some sponsors to assist me realise my dream of becoming a fully trained journalist by paying for my course fee. I don't want to narrate more concerning my situation financially but I am banking my hopes in you to assist me where possible, God willing. Thanks in advance Reply

Ojwang Joe <ojwangjoe@yahoo.com>