Happy birthday, Wangari Maathai!

Our Friend, our Mother, our Comrade, our Sheroe, our Sister, our Mentor ….

Today the 1st of April; 2023 is Professor Wangari Maathai’s birthday, she would have been eighty-three (83) years and knowing her, I am sure she would still be championing for peace across the globe with zeal and fervour, but even more importantly, she would be very concerned at what is currently happening in Kenya and her voice would have joined or be leading those calling for dialogue and for a peaceful solution to the challenges currently facing Kenya. Her voice, her actions, her interventions came at a high personal cost, but she was insistent on peaceful and non-violent solutions. Her personal view of peace was not preserved to the normal definitions connected to conflicts or absence of active war, it was broad-based and holistic, in high consideration of environmental sanity and protection of biodiversity as this was linked to global warming, democratic and progressive leadership and human rights which ensured that all people were treated with dignity and respect.

Read the full letter here.