A Tribute to Wangari Mathai

Wangari mathai was a Kenyan Women rights defender, an environmentalist and certainly a female leader like no other ever seen in the history of Kenya. She's highly revered for her great contribution in the defense of Uhuru park, a recreation center that was sold by the then president Daniel Arap Moi in the early 90's to a foreign investor. Wangari Mathai, claimed that building a skyscraper where Uhuru park stood would degrade the environment and she fought with words, body and soul. She was manhandled by the Moi regime, arrested and detained for so long. But the Kenyan women would not let her down either. They protested naked in the streets of Nairobi catching the attention of the international community. Unfortunately, She succumbed to cervical cancer mid last year leaving a mark in history. In her home town, a local TV station reported with live footage, a tree she planted in her village mourn her death by releasing water in its back.

Note this, she loved nature that it is said that at some time in her life she refused to use papers made from trees. If you think I'm making up things, rub that off your mind. This is a woman who even after death, protected the environment. In her will, it was found out that she opted for immolation as opposed to burial which would mean, destruction of a tree to make her casket. ...

Walking down our sorrow filled streets
Flags fly half mast in your grief
TV stations play your life series at least
the president promises you a state burial
I hear Nations grieve in your honor
and thank them if truly they are your mourner
pearly tears drip through my pallid cheeks
Your death is our loss Wangari
We wish you hadn’t left yet

On my reach to Uhuru conour
I see people write condolence notes for you
Thoughts creep through my turmoiled mind
Precisely, "life is short
Now you smile,
Later you cry
Today you wake alive,
Tomorrow dead
But when you fall a victim of fate
What legacy do you leave in your honor?
I pause to ask myself

Meanwhile,
my heart is still dark with sorrow
my old memories of you are evoked
Wangari Mathai, Mama Miti.
the machine gun of women rights
The iron environmentalist
the gardener of Karura forest
the fighter of neocolonialism
And certainly,
the reason Uhuru park will live forever

I bend to give my last respect
writing with pen on paper
“You were quite a legend
You were as great
as the humming bird you often talked about
We adored you and will miss you
rest in peace Wangari”
and just as I stand to leave,
My gaze fixes on your grey eyes in your potrait
your triumphant smile says,
continue with my work wananchi,
And I remember
You were the first African woman Nobel laureate peace price winner
rest in peace.