Famous People from Africa

A vast continent stretching from deserts of Sahara to the fertile tracts of Nile, from Atlas mountains in the north to the Cape of Good Hope in south; this might be the first picture that comes to our mind, while you think about Africa. There is more to Africa than just the natural, scenic beauty of landscapes. Africa also has a rich tradition of leaders, environmentalists, sportsmen and statesmen. Let's study a few of these personalities.

Wangari Maathai
A famous environmentalist from Kenya, Wangari Maathai is the first woman from the under privileged region of East and Central Africa to have attained a doctorate. Wangari Maathai led a life full of struggle and is still working hard for environmental conservation. Well-known for the "Green Belt Movement", she has inspired many people the world over to take up the cause of afforestation.

Wangari Maathai was born in a Kikuyu family, an ethnic group in Kenya and came from the Ihithe village of Nyeri District. She did her schooling at St. Cecilia's Intermediate Primary School. After completing graduation from the Loreto High school in Limuru, Maathai received a scholarship for studying at Mount St. Scholastica College in Kansas, USA. Biology was her major subject during graduation. Maathai's brilliant academic record became the driving force in her quest to pursue higher education. She went on to pursue a Master's degree in biology at the University of Pittsburg.

Returning to her homeland was not a pleasant experience for Maathai. Despite her great achievements, Wangari Maathai had to face gender bias in her own country and also found it difficult to get a job. However she didn't lose hope and finally got employed as a research assistant in the School of Veterinary Medicine in Nairobi. In 1971, Wangari Maathai became the first woman from East Africa to attain a Doctorate in Anatomy.

Dr. Maathai was an activist by nature and got involved with organizations like the Red Cross Society, United Nations Environment Programme and National Council of Women of Kenya. 5th June 1977 was a historic day in the life of Wangari Maathai as the first sapling of "Green Belt Movement" was planted that day. Main objective of the Green Belt Movement was to preserve native plant species by creating nurseries. The nurseries are also meant to provide income to the women and their families running them.

Wangari Maathai's husband filed for divorce in 1979. She also lost elections for the post of chairman of the National Council of Women of Kenya. But her personal problems and failure in elections didn't stop her from continuing the social activities associated with the Green Belt Movement. Many non-governmental organizations from European countries supported the cause of environmental conservation taken up by her. Dr. Maathai was often referred to as a crazy woman who opposed developmental activities going on in the country; however it didn't deter her from pursuing a hard battle of saving trees. She was even once attacked by miscreants during a tree plantation program.

Resilience was one force which helped Wangari Maathai to deal with failures in life. Finally, in 2004 Dr. Maathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Nelson Mandela
One of the greatest leaders of 20th century, Nelson Mandela demonstrated immense courage, patience and determination to free his nation from the shackles of apartheid. Born on 18th July, 1918 in Transkei, South Africa, Mr. Mandela became the President of South Africa in 1993. Before that, he had to spend 27 years in prison. He is also known by an honorary title Madiba, in South Africa.

Mandela's political life began after the 'National Party' which supported racism came to office in South Africa. Thereafter Mr. Mandela entered the fray and his struggle began. He laid the foundation of the African National Congress' Youth League in 1944. The African National Congress too adopted its 'Programme of Action' in 1949. He actively participated in the 'Defiance Campaign' of the African National Congress.

The African National Congress was banned in 1960. This led to the arrest of Mr. Mandela, after which he went underground and founded Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military outfit of African National Congress. This military wing carried out the sabotage operations of government installations. Nelson Mandela left for Algeria in 1962 for military training. He was arrested after his return and charged for illegally fleeing the country. Mr. Mandela was sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment. He was charged with sabotage while serving this five-year sentence, and further sentenced to life imprisonment.

Mandela's popularity grew after he was imprisoned. Robben Island, where he was sent for serving the term, became the 'center of learning'. Mandela organized political education classes in the jail. He refused to accept the remission offered to him in the '70s and '80s decade. Mr. Mandela never compromised with his ideologies for the sake of remission and was finally released on 11th February, 1990. The armed struggle against the government was stopped immediately. Nelson Mandela greatly influenced the struggle against apartheid during his stay in jail.

On 10th May 1994, Nelson Mandela became the President of South Africa and completed his term in 1999. He was the first President to be elected democratically in the History of South Africa. Mandela retired in June 1999 and now lives in Transkei, his birthplace.

Kofi Annan
The former Secretary-General of United Nations, Kofi Annan was born in Kumasi, Ghana on 8th April 1938. He was the seventh Secretary-General and served two terms starting from 1st January 1997 to 1st January 2007.

Mr. Annan is known for the reforms he brought in the functioning of United Nations. His priorities included the following:

• Strengthening operations carried out in the areas of security and peace-keeping.
• Promoting the virtues of equality, human dignity and tolerance.
• To reinstate people's faith in the United Nations, by forging ties with new partners in economic and cultural spheres.

Kofi Annan influenced world politics positively and tried to resolve conflicts between different nations in a peaceful manner. During the invasion of Iraq in 2003, he did not permit the US and UK to go ahead without the consent of United Nations. The transfer of power from African Union peacekeeping mission to United Nations took place peacefully in Sudan; Mr. Annan played a vital role in this process of peaceful transition.

Addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic was at the top of his priority list. For the same reason, he proposed to set up a 'Global AIDS and Health Fund'. This was an attempt to increase the funding to battle AIDS. He tried to work in the sector of women empowerment in collaboration with a few Arab and Muslim nations. On the 10th of December 2001, Kofi Annan was given the Nobel Peace Prize.

In his farewell address on 31st December 2006, Mr. Annan shared his views regarding the unjust world economic policies, violence in Middle East & Africa and the issue of human rights.

Desmond Tutu
The world-famous religious leader Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born on 7th October 1931 in Klerksdorp, Transvaal South Africa. Bishop Desmond Tutu was honored with many different awards including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.

Desmond Tutu studied at the Johannesburg Bantu High School. Before graduating from the University of South Africa in 1954, he took training for teaching from the Bantu Normal School in Pretoria. After teaching in high school for three years, Desmond Tutu went to England to pursue a Master's course in Theology. He served on many respectable posts including the Dean of St. Mary's Cathedral located in Johannesburg, Bishop of the country called Lesotho and General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches.

This famous theologian voiced his opinion fearlessly against apartheid and xenophobic violence in South Africa. He also criticized Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe for racist violence against white people.

Desmond Tutu advocated free trade between developed and poor nations. Tutu's following statement made at the 31st G8 Summit at Gleneagles, Scotland in 2005 speaks a lot about his study and concern for poor countries.

"I would hope they would begin to say, 'lets to do something about subsidies'. You ask the so-called-developing world, 'Why can't you people produce more?' - and they produce - and then they find that the markets have barriers that are put down or are clobbered twice over."

A counselor at 'One Young World', an organization trying to bring together 1500 leaders of the morrow, Desmond Tutu holds immense faith in today's youth.

The works and sacrifices of these great souls of Africa will inspire people from the world for a long time. They have laid a path with utmost sincerity and honesty. Let's make a resolve to carry their work forward.