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Wangarĩ Maathai

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File:Wangari potrait photo by Martin Rowe.jpg
Wangari Maathai

Wangari Muta Maathai (born April 1, 1940 in Nyeri) is a Kenyan environmental and political activist. In 2004 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for "her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace" — the first African woman to receive the award. Hon. Dr. Maathai is also an elected member of Parliament and served as Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources in the government of President Mwai Kibaki between January 2003 and November 2005.

Education

After finishing school in Kenya, Maathai studied Biology in the United States and Germany. She received her Bachelor's degree in biology from Mount St. Scholastica (now Benedictine College) in 1964, and her Master's degree from the University of Pittsburgh, before returning to Nairobi, where, at the University of Nairobi, she earned the first Ph.D. awarded to an Eastern African woman (in veterinary medicine). In 1971, she became professor for veterinary anatomy at the University of Nairobi, and then later dean of her faculty. In 2002 Maathai accepted a position as Visiting Fellow at Yale University's Global Institute for Sustainable Forestry.

Activism and political life

In 1977, Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, a grassroots environmental non-governmental organization, which has now planted over 30 million trees across the country to prevent soil erosion. She has come to be affectionately called "Tree Woman". Since then, she has been increasingly active on both environmental and women's issues.

Maathai was also the former chairperson of Maendeleo Ya Wanawake (the National Council of Women of Kenya). In the 1980s her husband divorced her, saying she was too strong-minded for a woman, and that he was unable to control her. The judge in the divorce case agreed with the husband.

During the regime of President Daniel Arap Moi, she was imprisoned several times and violently attacked for demanding multi-party elections and an end to political corruption and tribal politics. In 1989 Maathai almost single-handedly saved Nairobi's Uhuru Park by stopping the construction by Moi's business associates of the 60-story Kenya Times Media Trust business complex.

In 2002 Maathai was elected to parliament when Mwai Kibaki defeated Uhuru Kenyatta. She has been Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife since 2003. She founded the Mazingira Green Party of Kenya in 2003.

In 2005, in Kenya's second multi-party elections marred by ethnic violence, she ran for the country's presidency, but her party withdrew her candidacy. On 28 March 2005, she was elected as the first president of the African Union's Economic, Social and Cultural Council.

In 2006 she was one of the eight flag bearers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony.

Nobel Peace Prize

"Maathai stood up courageously against the former oppressive regime in Kenya" the Norwegian Nobel Committee said in a statement announcing her as the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner. "Her unique forms of action have contributed to drawing attention to political oppression — nationally and internationally. She has served as inspiration for many in the fight for democratic rights and has especially encouraged women to better their situation."

Controversy

Maathai caused a stir among media commentators when, at a press conference following the announcement of the Nobel award, she spoke out in favor of the claim that the HIV virus was the product of bio-engineering, and then released in Africa by unidentified Western scientists as a weapon of mass destruction to "punish Blacks." The claim is supported by only a small minority, and is one of many AIDS conspiracy theories.

She has since clarified her position, saying:

I have no idea who created AIDS and whether it is a biological agent or not. But I do know things like that don't come from the moon. I have always thought that it is important to tell people the truth, but I guess there is some truth that must not be too exposed.
I'm referring to AIDS. I am sure people know where it came from. And I'm quite sure it did not come from the monkeys. Why can't we be encouraged to ask ourselves these questions?

from the October 18, 2004 issue of TIME Europe magazine

Awards

Bibliography

  • Wangari Maathai, The Greenbelt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience, Lantern Books, 2003. ISBN 159056040X
  • Wangari Maathai, The Canopy of Hope: My Life Campaigning for Africa, Women, and the Environment, Lantern Books, 2002. ISBN 1590560027
  • Wangari Maathai, Bottom is Heavy Too: Edinburgh Medal Lecture, Edinburgh UP, 1994. ISBN 0748605185

See also

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