Construction of Wangari Maathai institute starts

President Uhuru Kenyatta views a model for the new Wangari Maathai Institute Complex during the laying of the Foundation stone of the Institute, Upper Kabete, Nairobi County. (PHOTO: COURTESY)

Kenya has started to build an ultramodern centre at the University of Nairobi in memory of Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai.

President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday laid the foundation stone for the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies at the university.

The institute at the university's Upper Kabete campus will be a global centre of excellence in environmental governance with linkages to peace and democracy.

It aims to create a culture of peace through transformation leadership in environmental governance.

The President said Prof Maathai had a vision to establish such an institute before she died and it was an honour for the university to host the institute.

"Before her death, Wangari had conceived the idea of establishing the institute and shared the idea with the university leadership and her friends across the world," he revealed.

Mr Kenyatta said Maathai's legacy will live on long after her death. He said the environmentalist was the best role model for all Kenyans who want to contribute to the progress of the country.

"I am encouraged to learn that this institute is already playing a critical role in reducing conflicts in communities by involving women in green energy technology, and in environmental conservation," said the President.

Construction of the institute, which will cost Sh1.4 billion, will be funded by the Government and the African Development Bank.

After laying the foundation stone, Kenyatta joined students in one of the lecture halls at the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences.

He urged the students to shun tribalism and work together as Kenyans to achieve their dreams.

The President asked the students to abandon tribal organisations and instead yearn for higher national ideals of progress and unity.

"The most important thing is for each one of you to get a job after graduating, and that will not be determined by where you come from," he said.

He told the youth that they will not achieve leadership on the basis of ethnicity.