2004 Nobel Peace Lauret, Pro. Wangari Muta Maathai has DIED. YES! Sad that the reknowned environmentalist succumbed to Ovarian Cancer at a Nairobi Hospital The death was first broken on social media by Tim Njiru. Then praises started pouring in and everybody is shedding tears. Some fake some real. You know the sheep mentality. Everyone wants to be with the crowd. I bet that 80% of those shedding tears on Waangari Maathai’s death does not know much about the enviromentalist. They have neither read her life story nor even her books of life. They cant recall 5 instances where Wangari Maathai stood against the establishment.
I commented that Wangari Maathai fought for the environment during the Moi era but she was loudly silent on many occasion on both the Kenyatta and Kibaki era. People started attacking me how I am insensitive and so on by I stood and will stand by what I said. I don’t think that the good Professor would want us to be sycophants because she was not one. She would want us to be fair and we must be fair even to her history. We should not create some imaginary perfection.
Prof. Wangari was married to Mwangi Mathai who was one time MP of Lang’ata. She was even one time director of Kenya Redcross Society and sat on many environment related boards for both international and national bodies. She also was an assistant minister in the NARC government from 2003 to November 2005 when she resigned after Kibaki sacked his former NARC allies. Prof. Wangari Maathai through the Mazingira Party campaigned for Kibaki’s seccond term despite “disagreeing” with him previously.
Worth noting is that Wangari Maathai could not make an impact as an assistant Minister of Environment and Natural Resources nor as Kenya Redcross Society Director. She was vocal when Moi abused the rights of Kenyans and the environment of this country but was also loudly quiet when Kibaki and Kenyatta did the same. She ganged up with other like minded freedom fighters to fight the Nyayo misdeeds but could not raise a finger when Kibaki and Kenyatta butchered Kenyans.
Wangari Maathai fought to unite the FORD-Kenya, FORD-Asili, DP and other parties to out KANU from power in 1992. She was loudly silent when Kibaki unleashed Mungikis and the police on innocent Kenyans. She never made any categorical statement to condemn the butchering of Kenyans by Kibaki branding them Mungiki nor did she make any strong statement willingly denouncing the Anglo-Leasing Scandals which dominated Kibaki’s first term in office.
Wangari Maathai was once quoted by the Standard as having said that HIV/AIDS was “deliberately created by Western scientists to decimate the African population.” This was immediately after being announced the winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. She denied having made that statement but the Standard stood by what it reported. She chickened out. You remember that Prof. Wangari Maathai is a Professor in Veterinary Medicine.
So I am not going to blindly mourn Prof. Wangari Maathai. I am going to mourn this great woman but I must point out her weaknesses so that the living would know that we are watching their failings and wont just blindly mourn them.
I will always speak of the good and evil. I expect the same to be said of me.
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