MIGHT PAULA KAHUMBU BE THE MODERN DAY WANGARI MAATHAI?

I sit scrolling my twitter timeline and I come across tweets from political and opinion leaders.The tweets get me thinking about what it means to have leaders, and i use this term loosely, who actually put the interests of the public first.
Immediately,my doors of my memory bank open and I remember the late Professor Wangari Maathai(God rest her soul).She once told her fellow members of Parliament that she was ready to surrender her parliamentary seat to safeguard Kenyan forests. And safeguard she did, to the point where she shed her blood in the Karura Forest in 1999, leading a group of concerned citizens into a confrontation with thugs hired by developers who were trying to grab the forest.
The late Wangari Maathai worked so hard to ensure that the policies(formulated by parliament)regarding the environment where natural resources are used to meet the needs of the present and future generations.She showed us that the government's interests and the wider public interests are not always as aligned as they are supposed to be .
Its up to people of good will to take up public interest issues that are dear to them and ensure that the government respects the wishes of those who put them in office.We have a shortage of such people,but there is one lady who sticks out like a sore thumb(in a good way of course).
Paula Kahumbu is her name.She is the Executive Director of the Kenya Land Conservation Trust and WildlifeDirect, and chairman of the Friends of Nairobi National Park.Kahumbu is well known in Kenya for her infectious passion for conservation and animals. She believes in the development of Kenya, but not at the cost of the environment. She is currently spearheading a campaign to ensure that the developments in infrastructure in Nairobi do not compromise the wildlife of Nairobi National Park, which would destroy one of Nairobi’s most important assets. Her conviction is that the park is integral to the value of the city, and she has persuaded many organizations, including KWS, International Livestock Research Institute, African Wildlife Foundation, the Wildlife Foundation, African Conservation Centre, The Friends of Nairobi National Park, The Kenya Land Conservation Trust, WildlifeDirect, private land owners and many others, to conduct an ecosystem-wide wildlife census that will help guide the decisions taken by the Ministry of Transport regarding the controversial Greater Southern Bypass.
She started her amazing work in the late 1980s and she continues to spearhead important movements where she was able to discover the disturbing trend of wildlife losses, and that vultures and lions were being poisoned by communities who live close to national parks.
You can read more about her good works on her website http://paulakahumbu.com/, but let me just say that I think she is an extra ordinary lady and that I wish her the very best in her various endeavours.