The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Kenyan Environmentalist, Mama Wangari Mathai of Kenya has been greeted with justifiable chorus of cheers from around the world and in Africa and the African Diaspora even more ululation, praise songs and loud talking drums. If anyone is deserving of such global acclaim he or she does not come more unprepossessing than this people's Professor who had dedicated her life to a very simple task: planting trees in order to safe her environment from destruction and degradation as a result of excessive exploitation. Who would have thought that such a an ordinary act could be so threatening to the state, local companies and the multinational corporations to make this African woman victim of state violence, intimidation, arrest, detention and other kinds of harassment?

Her impact on Kenya on the Moi regime and its land grabbing elite was similar (even if on a smaller scale) to another simple demand of a different historical epoch. Mahatma Ghandi demanded of the British colonial overlords in India to allow Indians to wear Indian dresses that they had made themselves and also get Salt from their own waters as their ancestors had done from time immemorial. This of course struck at the core of the colonial economy in a way that was very profound. If Indians only bought Indian made things and produced what they consumed then both the British colonial trading houses and their local agents will be out of business. From wanting to determine what they produced and consumed these Indians will (as indeed it came to pass) eventually demand to be their own rulers.

In the early years she suffered all kinds of derision. She was ridiculed as 'the tree woman' by those blinded by their financial interest in turning all lands into money regardless of the impact on the people, environment and the future of our cities and countries as a whole. Africa's governing elite from Independence up to now are dominated by ideas of 'modernisation' which ideologically they mean not just industrialisation, agricultural mechanisation and building of cities but also cultural westernisation: the aping of everything western especially western habits of crass materialism. Even when conscious groups in the West have woken up to the dangers that such a life style posed to their long-term existence and that of humanity our development planners are still stuck at classical modernisation at all cost. Thus people like Wangari who dared to raise environmental concerns were seen as enemies of progress and development. The state murder of Writer and environmental activist, Ken Saro Wiwa and his 8 other colleagues by Abacha in Nigeria is a demonstration of how dangerous being an environmentalist is in Africa. Wangari's tree planting forced her on collision course against powerful vested interests of private land lords, land grabbers in government and their business friends, big local companies (often owned by powerful politicians or controlled by their cronies) and multinational corporations all united around profiting and profiteering from Land regardless of the impact on people and environment. But she became a champion of the urban poor in their ghettoes and slums and rural masses and their insecure and constantly threatened tenure of smallholdings.

From Tree planting she moved on to Land reform, town and country planning issues, rights of users, demands for open green spaces for the public, preservation of historic and heritage sites, etc. In all these fronts Wangari and her growing supporters found bureaucratic obstacles and official hostility. It became clear that the freedom to plant trees and the right of poor people to decent housing and farmers' right to grow crops they like on lands handed down from generation to generation are directly related to the quality of governance, its legitimacy and its respect for its peoples. Tree planting like the right to clean drinking water or education and health services were intricately linked to democratic rights of the whole country. Environment like all issues that concern human beings are about power and politics. She and her constituencies became part of the political activism against the corruption and autocracy of the Moi/KANU power structure. But even in the opposition alliance, which finally defeated KANU Wangari Mathai, remains a difficult partner because she was not willing to sacrifice her environmental concerns to the powers that be. Even though she is now a minister in government that position has not hindered her and she remains one of few Ministers in the NARC government that is still regarded as being true to their convictions. For many it did not take them long to abandon their principles in favour of their new comforts and privileges of office.

By this honour Wangari has shown that you do not have to sell your soul in order to be successful in politics. As many had rightly pointed out her Nobel Laureate is also a positive celebration of the African Woman, Salt of the earth, the solid foundation of our communities and societies whose labour remains largely unpaid for and often unrecognised. But above all else it is an inspiration to all those who still value principles and selfless commitment to public good.

Congratulations, Mama Wangari.

* Dr Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem is General-Secretary of the Pan African Movement, Kampala (Uganda) and Co-Director of Justice Africa