News
Nobel peace laureate Wangari Maathai dies in Nairobi
Posted Monday, September 26 2011 at 07:00
In Summary
- Prof Wangari Maathai, a world icon for conservation, died at Nairobi Hospital on Sunday, September 25, 2011.
- President Kibaki said the world has not only lost a renowned environmentalist and but also a great human rights crusader.
- Tanzania's President Jakaya Kikwete celebrates Maathai, describes her as a great woman and an inspiration for many women across Africa.
- Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan said Prof Maathai would forever be celebrated and honoured.
Prof Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace laureate and conservation heroine, has died in Nairobi after a long battle with cancer. She was 71.
The environmentalist and politician died at the Nairobi Hospital at around 10pm on Sunday, officials at her Greenbelt Movement organisation told Nation.co.ke. (SEE In Pictures: Wangari Maathai)
Prof Maathai will be remembered for her courage and tenacity in seeking social justice, conservation, democracy and corruption.
She successfully fought off an attempt by the Moi regime to build a 60-storey building at Uhuru Park, at the centre of Nairobi city. She also took on powerful individuals in the Moi government who had hived off parts of the Karura forest in the outer fringes of the city.
She also joined mothers of political prisoners in a hunger strike in a quest to force then President Moi to free them. (READERS' SAY: Share your Wangari Maathai quotes)
The environmentalist later joined politics and was in 2002 elected the Member of Parliament for Tetu, Nyeri District and served as an Assistant Minister in President Kibaki's first government.
Known for her love for trees, Prof Maathai was in 2004 awarded the Nobel peace prize for her conservation efforts.
She was also a celebrated academic having been the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree.
Courage
President Kibaki sent condolences from New York where he had travelled to attend the UN General Assembly.
"It is with a deep sense of sadness and sorrow that I learnt of the death of Nobel Laureate Professor Wangari Maathai. On behalf of the government and people of Kenya and on my own behalf I send you this message of sympathy, at this time when we mourn a global icon who has left an indelible mark in the world of environmental conservation.
"With the passing on of Professor Maathai, the country and the world has not only lost a renowned environmentalist and but also a great human rights crusader," said a dispatch from President Kibaki's press service.
Tanzania's President Jakaya Kikwete was amongst the first world leaders to celebrate the professor.
"Rest in peace Dr Wangari Maathai. A great woman, an inspiration for many women across Africa, a magnificent visionary & embodiment of courage," President Kikwete said via twitter.
Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan said Prof Maathai would forever be celebrated and honoured (READ: Maathai a courageous woman: Annan).
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Submitted by odhiodongoPosted September 28, 2011 02:46 PM
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Submitted by matinyani
What a personality to celebrate, worldwide. Late Laureate Prof Wangari Maathai was an Alumni of University of Pittsburgh in USA. When I e-mail the Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh, he responded to me in these words "Professor Maathai was an inspiring figure of impact, around the world and here at Pitt. Hopefully, her example will continue to move people for many generations to come". Truly, Prof. Maathai was a loss to all.....young or old. I urge people to celebrate her death by planting at least one tree on her behalf.
Posted September 27, 2011 11:41 PM -
Submitted by annejackson
A great woman of Africa. A life well-lived,a voice of courage and a will of steel. What a noble character that sacrificed own comforts for the voiceless, the poor and the down-trodden. What she fought for: sustainable environment,democracy, peace, social justice and women empowerment, she did it not for herself but for generations to come. Prof. Wangari Muta Maathai, in death as in life, I love and celebrate you. Rest in eternal peace.. Let every person who valued her work plant a tree in her memory.
Posted September 27, 2011 05:04 PM -
Submitted by primate
she is also the only reknowed person from Africa who openly questioned how HIV/aids disease came to this earth. I saw her being interviewed by some foreign journalist and a question was thrown at her as to why she had said in the past that aids was man made.she stuck to her guns and said that she did not believe that Africns ate monkeys and chimps thus contracting the virus, as some westerners believe.she said that Africans had lived with these animals for milleniums but never got the disease,until the colonisation came about.
Posted September 27, 2011 03:23 PM -
Submitted by mike2010
R.I.P Mum, you left the world a much much better place than you found it and that's the true measure of greatness. Rest well.
Posted September 27, 2011 01:50 PM
RSS
@wina12, Yes Prof Maathai's autobiography is available in most major bookshops in East Africa. If you are in Nairobi, check Prestige (Mama Ngina St), Text book Centre (Sarit Centre or Kjabe St), Book Point (Moi Ave). If you are in Kampala, check Aristoc. It is a wonderful book to have in your home library!