Her death was announced early Monday, although it is understood that she passed away on Sunday night at around 10:00 PM Kenyan time. According to the statement from the Green Belt Movement, a non-governmental organisation that she formed and led since the late seventies, Wangari succumbed to cancer-related complications.

She died at the age of 71.

Nairobi hospital spokesperson, where she had been admitted for over a week, said that Wangari has been battling the cancer for a long time, although she did not want it to be a public matter.

Apart from being a Nobel Laureate, Wangari is also a former member of parliament for Tetu, in Nyeri in Central Kenya, and also Assistant Minister in the Kenyan Ministry of Environment between 2002 and 2007.

Wangari Mutta Maathai will be remembered by many as a rebel with a course. Her run-ins with the former dreaded KANU regime that was led by the retired president Daniel Arap Moi over human rights abuses and the destruction of the environment, especially clearing of forests by the stalwarts of the KANU regime to create settlements for their supporters for political gains , saw her being incarcerated on many occasions. She also did a stint in prison for fighting against human rights abuses.

One thing that stands out is her spirited campaigns against the plans by the then KANU government to construct a 60 storey building-called Times Media Complex- at the Uhuru Park within Nairobi. Her taunts to the government helped to create an international outcry which saw the government shelve the plans, as partners pulled out.

She will also be remembered for leading women in stripping naked- at the very same Uhuru Park- while trying to force the government to release political prisoners. One of the beneficiaries on her endeavours is Koigi Wa Wamwere, who later relocated to Norway, where he was granted asylum. Wamwere later on became a legislator and Assistant Minister in the Kibaki government.

Through out her life, she has been advocating for the conservation of the enviroment, and on many occasions, she has been leading this campaign through radio and TV talk-shows. But in the recent past, she has been maintaining a low profile.

Wangari is succeeded by three children and a grand-daughter.