None of her activities were looked upon favorably by Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi. Her gravest sin—either her biggest mistake or success, depending on whose side you take—came in the late 1980s, when she very publicly scuttled Moi's plan to build a 60-story office story in Uhuru Park, adjoining downtown Nairobi.
The building was to be flanked by a large statue of the 17-year president. Both were to be paid for by foreign aid monies. By personal plea and public rally, Maathai persuaded donors that the project was environmentally, aesthetically, and fiscally unsound, and Moi's dream was defeated.
While that victory may have earned her popularity among the workers who used the park, it assured her the eternal enmity of the ruling party, in particular Moi and the government-owned newspaper and television stations, which were to have gotten luxurious new offices in the building. The day after the project was officially announced dead, headlines in The Daily Nation accused Maathai of "having insects in her head."
A year later, when she won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, CNN International ran a story about the six winners from around the globe. Government-employed censors edited out the three-minute segment on Maathai when the piece aired in Kenya. She is rumored to be on Moi's short list for either extradition, or … an "accident." (Not out of the question from a government whose finance minister once threw a political opponent out of a helicopter.)
Maathai's recent beating was part of a constant campaign of harassment against her. Soon after his office building was KO'd, Moi ruled that foreign assistance to women's development projects must be channeled through the state women's organization, effectively cutting off outside aid to the Green Belt Movement. Maathai is currently awaiting trial on charges of incitement and "rumor mongering." Yet she continues to be publicly critical of the police state that her homeland has become.
After reading the front page of the newspaper, sitting up in her hospital bed, Maathai looks up at the crowd gathered in her hospital room. "They don't understand, do they? I'm not being critical of the government. I'm just talking the truth. Perhaps President Moi believes I should protect the image of our government, just because it is our government. But I know that I am talking about a government that does not like to be criticized. That is why I have been in trouble."
Despite her bruises, she comes off more steadfast than scared. "I know I am in danger, and I know that the government has tried to push me aside. At the moment, because of the political turmoil in my country, one cannot rule out the possibility of the worst, so I do feel that I need to take care of myself. I need to stay away from 'dangerous ground,'" she said.
"But that doesn't mean that I will back down. I will not just go away, which is what they would like. Because this is where I am needed most. My message has not shifted, if anything it has become less subtle."
Editor's note: Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi left office in December 2002, after a constitutional ban prevented him from seeking reelection.
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