Love and Forgiveness in Governance: Exemplars: Wangari Maathai
by Ernest Ogbozor
Professor Wangari Maathai is the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace. She was internationally recognized for her persistent struggle for democracy, human rights and environmental conservation. Her efforts to stop powerful politicians grabbing land, especially forests, brought her into conflict with the Kenyan authorities, and she was beaten and arrested numerous times.[1] The Nobel Peace Prize committee said that her "unique forms of action contributed to drawing attention to political oppression — nationally and internationally".[2] However, Maathai's maltreatment from the Kenya authorities did not change her love for her country and the environment she fought to protect.
Wangari Maathai was the first woman in east and central Africa to obtain a PhD, and also the first woman professor at the University of Nairobi. At the University of Nairobi, she campaigned for equal benefits for women working as staff of the university; she went as far as to attempt to turn the academic staff association of the university into a union, negotiating for equal pay for all staff. In addition to her work at the University of Nairobi, Maathai became involved in a number of civic organizations. She was a member of the Nairobi branch of the Kenya Red Cross Society, becoming its director in 1973. She said that "in Kenya women are the first victims of environmental degradation, because they are the ones who walk for hours looking for water, who fetch firewood, who provide food for their families".[3]
Her work with voluntary groups motivated her struggles for rural women in Kenya, and it quickly became her life's cause. Noticing how the rapid environmental degradation was affecting women's lives, she encouraged them to plant trees to ensure future supplies of firewood and to protect water sources and crops.[4] She founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977 and planted millions of trees. She said that "when you have bad governance, of course, these resources are destroyed: The forests are deforested, there is illegal logging, there is soil erosion. I got pulled deeper and deeper and saw how these issues become linked to governance, to corruption, to dictatorship."[5] Her bravery and defiance made her a hero in Kenya.
Her message to Kenyans was very clear, especially to those in governance: "Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree, you water it and make it survive, you haven't done a thing. You are just talking."[6] She also said, "I am working to make sure we don't only protect the environment, we also improve governance."[7] These were the causes that Prof. Maathai fought for throughout her lifetime. She died in September 2011 at the age of 71. According to the remark from the Green Belt Movement, "her departure is untimely and a very great loss to all who knew her — as a mother, relative, co-worker, colleague, role model, and heroine; or who admired her determination to make the world a more peaceful, healthier, and better place."[8] Wangari Maathai, by virtue of these attributes, is a successful exemplar of Love and Forgiveness in Governance.
[1] "Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Dies at 71 | World News | Guardian.co.uk," accessed February 1, 2013, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/26/wangari-maathai-nobel-winner-dies.
[2] "Wangari Maathai - Herstory Network," accessed February 1, 2013, http://www.herstorynetwork.com/women-making-herstory/wangari-maathai/.
[3] "Interview with Wangari Maathai by Marianne Schnall," accessed February 1, 2013, http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/interviews/wangarimaathai.html.
[4] "Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Dies at 71 | World News | Guardian.co.uk"
[5] "'I Will Disappear Into the Forest': An Interview With Wangari Maathai | Mother Jones" accessed February 1, 2013, http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2005/01/root-causes-interview-wangari-maathai.
[6] "Wangari Maathai" accessed February 1, 2013, http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wangari_Maathai.
[7] "I am working to make sure we don't only protect the environment, we also improve governance. - Wangari Maathai at BrainyQuote," accessed February 1, 2013, http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/wangarimaa166686.html.
[8] "Kenyan Nobel Laureate Maathai Dies - CNN.com," accessed February 1, 2013, http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/26/world/africa/kenya-nobel-laureate-death/index.html.
