Where was Wangari?

To me, one of the most curious things about Kenya's political crisis was the almost complete absence of the country's Nobel Peace Prize winner, Wangari Maathai. She lost her seat in parliament and then played no significant role in finding any sort of solution to the crisis.

Sure, Maathai made several public statements and pleaded for calm, but no one ever really seemed to listen to her. You'd think a Nobel winner would have some moral authority, but she was never brought in to help -- which may suggest that the Kenyan view of her differs slightly from the international view of her.

Maathai's ineffectiveness raises questions for me about her worth as a Nobel recipient. After we arrived I was struck by the number of people who thought she hadn't deserved it. At the time, I dismissed those complaints as sexist sour grapes. We had met Maathai at a book signing in New York, and like everyone else, I was impressed. She even signed a book for us ("Zoe, Best of luck in Nairobi indeed! Peace always, Wangari"). Now, I'm not so sure.

News from today's paper adds to the impression. The Daily Nation reports that displaced people in Nakuru rejected her call for them to return to their homes. And then -- always a bad sign -- Maathai refers to herself in the third person. "If you do not listen to Wangari today, one day you will listen to somebody else." You can almost hear a "harumph" at the end.

(UPDATE: Lest I get too carried away with all the Wangari bashing, it's important to highlight what two commenters, Sijui and my esteemed colleague African Safari, point out below. Wangari Maathai's loss of her parliamentary seat and her subsequent absence from the political negotiations may have had less to do with her own failings than with the failings of the system in which she operates.)

Comments

[Rob]

Wangari Maathai set out to create a new type of politics, removed from Kenya's traditional tribal version. She was rewarded for this by losing her party's nomination for a seat this time around and being dumped out of parliament by voters who wanted someone who would fight for their own tribal interests. She is proof that politicians can wield power and influence only in so far as they use their tribal base. She tried and failed to break the mould.

Wangari Maathai is one of Kenya's most impressive leaders. Her impotence as a politician is Kenya's tragedy.

[Sijui]

Good observations but lacking sufficient background. Wangari Maathai could only be effective in the negotiation process if she was allied with the interests of either camp or if she commanded the trust of both camps to be a neutral arbitrar. Regarding the first, she obviously is looked upon with disdain by the PNU for not towing a parochial ethnic agenda (she was punished by her constituents for this and other matters)......ODM looks upon her with less suspicion but clearly she is not politically pivotal to their agenda plus she is a Kikuyu so clearly she is not the best champion of her interests.

Concerning the second point, she would need to have been invited by both sides as well as the international community to participate. Reasons for that go back to the earlier point...she is not liked by the Kibaki caucus and she is not particularly allied with the ODM either......which leaves the only other option. Her stature. Which by all accounts has dimmed in Kenyan politics because she is too independent minded as well as a maverick.....and we all know how well Kenyans reward principled, independent politicians.
So clearly she was only useful in as much as she could work behind the scenes....which she did and consequently got her life threatened for.

I personally am glad she lost her parliamentary seat.......she should be above that by now, her international stature is far more important now at a time when Kenya is facing a crisis of confidence as a stable, progressive society in the global community.