The Hypocrisy of A State Funeral for Prof. Wangari Maathai

© Ann Njogu, October 2011

Prof. Wangari Maathai fought the good fight. She finished the race. She kept the faith. And now, undoubtedly she has received the crown of righteousness from the righteous Judge! The divine gift to mother earth, the resistance cum rebel leader, the green landmark for the World, then a despised and largely ignored lowly hero , is now a facebook profile picture for many , and a 21 gun salute, flag draped state funeral awaits her! And so she shall have a 21 gun salute, said Kibaki, all state protocol observed declared Raila and with shock and grief cried Kalonzo. Just like other liberation heroes, the fallen Nobel Peace Laureate became legend in the lips of the ones who would have none of her wisdom during her lifetime! The same political class that disregarded her scientific facts over the Mau water tower as in all other issues that were important to the people but threatened selfish narrow interests of the power elite now rush to honour her and hail her wisdom! And while there is not enough money to reclaim the Mau, we will break the bank for the fanfare state funeral of a Prophetess we couldn't listen to but instead spat and slapped at will? Is this not the paradox that Wangari wrote of African states whose military defense budgets that are almost twice as huge as the agriculture and health budgets combined? Wangari's death does not free us from the challenges she confronted us with, it deepens the need to look ourselves in the mirror, see the ugly face behind the masks of concern we wear, repent for the sins we have committed against our prophets and prophetesses and do the right thing. Nothing else could possibly be more befitting in honoring Wangari than fulfilling her dreams.

Wangari’s send off shouldn't and cannot be the platform for self-glorification, false commiserations and perpetuation of the infatuation with morbidity that has become part of our culture, repugnant as it is to the values and principles by which this modern heroine lived. Does the State mourn Wangari because an irreplaceable Icon has departed or because an implacable enemy has bowed?

As the curtains draw on Wangari's illustrious life, and as her light flickers in the wind, it behooves us as Kenyans, as a people, to drink deeply of the lessons written all over her life. To be of courage, of consistent commitment, of servant leadership and of good cheer in doing good even when we are left alone doing battle with the elements of political nature, even when we are caught in a storm, a tempest all alone in the high seas, even when we are called names and get kicked for standing for the truth, standing on the way of the greedy and mindless.

Wangari constantly urged us to not to rely on our treacherous politicians to redress the inequality, corruption, food insecurity and rising costs of commodities and instead to embrace and draw from our rich history and culture, acknowledging and correcting our mistakes in choosing our leadership and harnessing our immense resources in a sustainable and peaceful manner. She spoke mostly to the wanjiku, the women and men in the villages fully connected to them and well aware that any real and tangible desired change came from the people not the boardroom politicians and private developers. It is this movement that touched and changed the world with a reawakening of concern for social justice and participatory governance and responsible use of resources. She ceaselessly, unfailingly connected the dots for us -all the time, in all ways! That poverty, poor governance, social injustices , ethnic tension and conflict are largely a result of the vicious competition for scarce resources and failed leadership!

Definitely not ball for the chagrin of most African politicians, especially here in Kenya. Could any patriotic citizen not see the crocodile tears at the accolades and other statements of ‘grief and shock’ by Kenyan politicians simply for expediency and I suspect driven by their shame and embarrassment for missing the boat while Wangari breathed life! And lest they be left behind as the whole world leadership poured glowing tribute to a hero they had long recognized , long honoured and who they relied on for guidance on matters of global peace, climate change, social justice et al!

Regard me as one possessed with anger of loss at death for while I mourn with tears and ashes, I also rage. I shall deplore the hypocrisy in this country in celebrating our heroes, heroines, prophets and prophetesses only but when they are long gone. Oh Wangari wa Maathai, after calling the bluff on Moi, Kenya's then Tin Pot dictator, over Uhuru Park, saving Karura, stripping to force Pharaoh to let God's people go; to free the nation's heroes incarcerated in the infamous of Nyayo House torture chambers. Even after winning the coveted Nobel Peace prize, did we not deny you the chance to lead the ministry of environment and later in 2006 strip you of your state security?, did we not kick you out of Tetu, demoting you for daring to speak about the human encroachment and depletion of the Aberdares forest resources ? How did we repay you for speaking against the destructive shamba system? And thereafter what did we do in 2008, against your voice of reason and candour? Did we not tell you to go to hell even after we had received the Nobel peace prize ‘on behalf of the people of Kenya’ and go at each other with machetes and machine fire, not respecting even places of worship and hacking and burning down even little babies with demonic venom?

We are a Nation whose cup overflows with hypocrites; hypocrites who give activists for social change, prophets, prophetess, and other heroines nothing but pain during their lives and mourn and groan loudest upon their deaths! Are we not the country that keeps vigil on the demise of her dejected heroes, then sprint to a neighboring country to steal a look-alike of our long dead for the heck of a party? Do we not remember the farcical case of “Mzee Mathenge”? While we indulge in such foolery, the real freedom fighters and their kith and kin remain ignored, unrecognized, stuck in utter poverty, un-free and undignified making a mockery of their sacrifices.

If Wangari’s work and sacrifices in life should mean anything, can the State start by having a specific program to effect her wishes and by righting all the wrongs to the surviving freedom fighters! So that our history can be written in indelible ink to inspire generations of freedom fighters to come that they may continue to courageously defend their land and constitution in full knowledge and honour of those who shade their blood for this great nation! Let the State honour and immortalize the already living legends of our country, extract from them their wealth of knowledge and experience while they still breathe and so that our history may never be eroded or robbed by death! If the political class mean to honour Wangari, they should immediately commit the funds and political will to reclaim the Mau eco system and implement the Ndungu land report- a report she has always referred to in her explanation of the land crisis and decay in the land regime in Kenya. If Wangari’s life should mean anything, can each patriotic Kenyan plant at least two to 71 trees per head. That will be planting 80 million – 3 billion trees in honour of Wangari's lifelong work amongst us. It will be planting a legacy that shall remind generations to come of this great prophetess and legend who lived amongst us. It will be bequeathing to generations to come a clean, healthier world. Nothing could have pleased Wangari Maathai more than a secure global commons. Only after succeeding at home can we credibly take this message to the rest of the World. Yes we can! Remember the little Humming bird!

A state funeral would be befitting if it was honest. But the crystal ball will show Wangari's blood stained persecutors rising and seating in turns after their well rehearsed eulogies, which they will discard and forget immediately the self-serving fanfare is done and long before Mother Earth has accepted the ashes of our heroine. The political script will not change but crocodile tears will flow aplenty, to be replaced in the evening with champagne and adulations for a “job well done”. “What with the rolling tea hectares in the Mau safe, a free ride to Karura's lush acres now available for plunder, the voice of conscience that constantly and irritatingly pricked at our long dead conscience and alerted the people on our schemes”.

She may be gone in body, but her spirit lives on in us! Because for every brutal blow on our role model, , a spark of resistance was born in many more Wangaris’. For every harassment and injustice bestowed on Wangari, hundreds of other Wangaris were born and now live – and her spirit proliferates and her legacy lives on in us forever!

Lets us mourn our compatriot, our phenomenal mother, environmentalist, democracy crusader and peace maker. But let us not forget the real and true essence of Wangari's departure – the lessons drawn from her life of struggle. For us all, activists and others, may we continue to reflect on our respect for our living heroes. Lest we repeat our old mistakes. And now for her legacy, for her love for communities and peoples who she believed are the ones who will save Africa from its sick leadership, and for humanity and the good of the Global Commons, let us go out today and unto the soil plant a tree - or two or seventy one!! Oh and if you privately ‘own’ public land somewhere, can you hand in the Title to Land Minister Orengo as you come down to the funeral or else why not just stay at home rather than offend the heroic spirit of our sleeping prophetess?

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