By Samuel Ouma
The University of Nairobi (UoN) on Monday, August 28, 2023, launched the Wangari Maathai Institute (WMI) for Peace and Environmental Studies in the honour of the late Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai.
The institute was opened by the Environment and Forestry Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya.
The WMI will enable an innovative fusion of university research and traditional training in an atmosphere that provides a perfect blend of academic resources and experiential learning opportunities, community mentoring, and the utilisation of indigenous knowledge.
“ I am excited to officially open the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies (WMI) to immortalise the vision of a Kenyan heroine whose life impacted Africa and the world,” said CS Tuya.
Tuya praised Prof. Wangari Maathai for having the vision to lay the groundwork for combating climate change using natural methods, particularly the creation of a grass-roots movement led by women and young people intended to combat the deforestation that was endangering the agricultural population’s means of subsistence.
“Her unbowed stand and spirited campaign for Social Justice, democracy, and environmental conservation remain the guidepost for the Government of Kenya and Africa’s call for urgent global climate investment through collective action.
As the Africa Climate Summit kicks off this week, I expect we will “rise up and walk” by planting more than multi-billion trees of hope for Africa’s food security, green energy transition, and women and youth jobs. We can no longer delay scaling the critically needed funding for Africa’s climate mitigation and adaptation acceleration plans,” the Cabinet Secretary reiterated.
UoN Chancellor, Dr. Mrs. Vijoo Ratansi said, “Wangari Maathai’s unwavering conviction on the nexus between environmental degradation and poverty and conflict made way for her timeless contribution to the cause of environmental conservation. Many years before talk on climate change became fashionable, the late Prof. Wangari Maathai had cut herself out as a significant contributor in caring for the environment and thereby, mitigating the adverse effects of climate change.”
The Government of Kenya officially handed over the WMI campus to the University of Nairobi on May 6, 2019, after commissioning construction in August 2016 to institutionalise Prof. Wangari Maathai’s excellent ideas and efforts.
Prof. Wangari Maathai was the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
She was also the first female scholar from East and Central Africa to take a doctorate (in biology), and the first female professor in her home country of Kenya.
Maathai’s mobilisation of African women was not limited to its vision to work for sustainable development; she saw tree-planting in a broader perspective, including democracy, women’s rights, and international solidarity.
