•Monday, October 02, 2006
the world renown 2004 nobel prize winner, professor wangari maathai launched her autobiography last week. unbowed: one woman’s story published by random house, 2006 is being serialised by the nation newspaper. in her own words, the nobel laureate gives a glimpse of her relentless fights in life to be where she is today. for some of us it’s news that the first woman phd in east and central Africa in 1971 once had the country on the edge of their seats whilst following her divorce soap opera in the 70’s. we must have been a constellation away to be born while she dauntingly stood by her husband mwangi during his bids for the langata parliamentary seat which he lost in 1969 and won in 1974.
the closest semblance of what i now have in mind about the green belt movement founder is a story book we used to read in primary school called ‘judy the nun’. ‘judy the nun’ was the emotional story of a kenyan primary school teacher and married woman who decided to further her career in the u s of a against a backdrop of relatives and friends rebuttal of such a move. set in the early 80’s, women were supposed to be wholly subservient to the mars species in kenya. judy came back to the country to fight for political space and business empire in the predominantly male field after waging marital fidelity battles while abroad where she earned the nickname ‘judy the nun’. the fact that she remained chaste for her ‘liberated’ husband did not count when she was involved in an accident in states with a drunken ‘predator’ who was trying his way into the nun’s chastity.
judy the nun’s husband was liberal in the sense that he gave way for her wife’s advancement despite the societal pressures for the need to make his wife conform to men-set standards for women at the time. when judy sought political office, he was there by her side and conquered his selfish ego in support of his wife. sadly, in the end, he gave in to the pressures of undue male egocentric domination, cheated on her loyal wife, humiliated her in public accusing her of infidelity, dispossessed her of family property, destroyed her political career and washed their dirty linen in public. surprisingly, that’s what my subconscious mind read in the first of three serialisation of the unbowed woman story that wangari maathai is. enyewe, what those early women scholars faced in a male dominated world both in academia and industry is worth telling.
well, there was no fanfare with the books launch at outspan hotel in nyeri unlike raila odinga’s launch of the ‘near-flop’ biography. raila’s enigma biography almost backfired on him when it highlighted his prime role in the 1982 attempted coup. maybe maathai’s planned launch at the hotel intercontinental on Tuesday October 3 in nairobi will be full of glamour. her humility at latter years of her life is admirable. her rage and love for the environment saved nairobi’s evergreen karura forest. it did save uhuru park too, where another towering nyayo ‘grabiosis’ reminder would be in place of the inviting day-time relaxation park that turns eerie at night with muggers and the evil urchins of our time.
it’s during her book’s launch that wangari maathai retaliated her desire to still be kenya’s president. that’s where sympathy for our true first lady comes in. surely, a prophet is not known at her home place. idolized globally, the wangari maathai legacy is not really appreciated at home if political crown-ship is to be used. she once ran for presidency in 1997 and lost dismally. she didn’t even get to parliament. when she did in 2002 under the narc wave, her political story hasn’t yielded much fruits. she has always being appointed as an assistant minister for environmental resources, a post she declined after last year’s ethnically dividing referendum. her boss, one emilio mwai wa kibaki who rules with a tight-lip and closed eyes did not see her fit enough to run a conservation and environmental friendly ministry. she happens to be a middle-ground mp whose alignment is neither on kibaki or raila-led odm; the two axis of ‘underdevelopment’ in kenya. just like one joseph nyaga, she is a ‘whispering’ president-in-waiting with no much of a political clout to call her own despite the zeal, international accolades, intelligence, real vision, proven concern for our motherland and foresight that kenya badly needs.
what is this great and noble nobel laureate’s crime that she can’t lead such a great country like kenya? it’s sad but i have to say it. there are three major reasons among others. these are reasons from the streets and not necessarily my personal views, i would actually prefer her to the bad leaders in waiting or in office. one she is a kikuyu, the tribe that is now on the cross in kenya ready to be crucified any time. that’s enough to make her lose 40% of the presidential votes. secondly, over 65 years old, she’s an ‘old turk’, the current wave is for young generational leadership. it doesn’t matter how clumsy, yappy and crappy the so called young turks are. that makes her lose 25%. lastly, she is a woman, i know i shouldn’t write it but its true. kenyans both male and female kenyans are yet to embrace female leadership. Another 10% goes. i cry for my beloved country kenya.
the closest semblance of what i now have in mind about the green belt movement founder is a story book we used to read in primary school called ‘judy the nun’. ‘judy the nun’ was the emotional story of a kenyan primary school teacher and married woman who decided to further her career in the u s of a against a backdrop of relatives and friends rebuttal of such a move. set in the early 80’s, women were supposed to be wholly subservient to the mars species in kenya. judy came back to the country to fight for political space and business empire in the predominantly male field after waging marital fidelity battles while abroad where she earned the nickname ‘judy the nun’. the fact that she remained chaste for her ‘liberated’ husband did not count when she was involved in an accident in states with a drunken ‘predator’ who was trying his way into the nun’s chastity.
judy the nun’s husband was liberal in the sense that he gave way for her wife’s advancement despite the societal pressures for the need to make his wife conform to men-set standards for women at the time. when judy sought political office, he was there by her side and conquered his selfish ego in support of his wife. sadly, in the end, he gave in to the pressures of undue male egocentric domination, cheated on her loyal wife, humiliated her in public accusing her of infidelity, dispossessed her of family property, destroyed her political career and washed their dirty linen in public. surprisingly, that’s what my subconscious mind read in the first of three serialisation of the unbowed woman story that wangari maathai is. enyewe, what those early women scholars faced in a male dominated world both in academia and industry is worth telling.
well, there was no fanfare with the books launch at outspan hotel in nyeri unlike raila odinga’s launch of the ‘near-flop’ biography. raila’s enigma biography almost backfired on him when it highlighted his prime role in the 1982 attempted coup. maybe maathai’s planned launch at the hotel intercontinental on Tuesday October 3 in nairobi will be full of glamour. her humility at latter years of her life is admirable. her rage and love for the environment saved nairobi’s evergreen karura forest. it did save uhuru park too, where another towering nyayo ‘grabiosis’ reminder would be in place of the inviting day-time relaxation park that turns eerie at night with muggers and the evil urchins of our time.
it’s during her book’s launch that wangari maathai retaliated her desire to still be kenya’s president. that’s where sympathy for our true first lady comes in. surely, a prophet is not known at her home place. idolized globally, the wangari maathai legacy is not really appreciated at home if political crown-ship is to be used. she once ran for presidency in 1997 and lost dismally. she didn’t even get to parliament. when she did in 2002 under the narc wave, her political story hasn’t yielded much fruits. she has always being appointed as an assistant minister for environmental resources, a post she declined after last year’s ethnically dividing referendum. her boss, one emilio mwai wa kibaki who rules with a tight-lip and closed eyes did not see her fit enough to run a conservation and environmental friendly ministry. she happens to be a middle-ground mp whose alignment is neither on kibaki or raila-led odm; the two axis of ‘underdevelopment’ in kenya. just like one joseph nyaga, she is a ‘whispering’ president-in-waiting with no much of a political clout to call her own despite the zeal, international accolades, intelligence, real vision, proven concern for our motherland and foresight that kenya badly needs.
what is this great and noble nobel laureate’s crime that she can’t lead such a great country like kenya? it’s sad but i have to say it. there are three major reasons among others. these are reasons from the streets and not necessarily my personal views, i would actually prefer her to the bad leaders in waiting or in office. one she is a kikuyu, the tribe that is now on the cross in kenya ready to be crucified any time. that’s enough to make her lose 40% of the presidential votes. secondly, over 65 years old, she’s an ‘old turk’, the current wave is for young generational leadership. it doesn’t matter how clumsy, yappy and crappy the so called young turks are. that makes her lose 25%. lastly, she is a woman, i know i shouldn’t write it but its true. kenyans both male and female kenyans are yet to embrace female leadership. Another 10% goes. i cry for my beloved country kenya.
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3 comments:
thanks for the insightful post. Dr. Maathai definitely does not get the respect she deserves in Kenya. What a great shame...
@kabinti, kenya does not recognize the jewel it has in wangari maathai. its sad.
@eddie, the liberia model should be an eye opener to the rest of africa. i wonder whether kenya is ready.
last paragraph - sad, but true ... and a reflection of the immaturity of the kenyan electorate and kenyan politics.