Legal Status Profiles

Records

Wangari Maathai

Kenyan environmentalist, scientist and politician who founded the Green Belt Movement and received the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize.

ChargedLatest source dated 2025-03-04Last reviewed 2026-10-26

What is Wangari Maathai’s legal position?

1992 arrest and charge of publishing a false rumour

Charged

Current position. Charged on 14 January 1992 and released on bail; the last contemporaneous record found (Amnesty International, 4 March 1993) describes the case as still pending. No trial or conviction is documented, and the final disposal of the charge is not confirmed in the sources read.[1, 2, 3, 4]

Authority
Kenya Police / Kenyan courts (Nairobi)
Status date
1993-03-04

History

  1. 1992-01-10 Took part in a FORD press conference at which members said they had evidence the government intended to hand power to the army.
  2. 1992-01-13 Arrested at her home in Nairobi; held at Lang'ata Police Station.
  3. 1992-01-14 Charged under section 66(1) and (2) of the Penal Code with publishing a false rumour likely to cause fear and alarm to the public; released on bail of KSh 100,000 the same day.
  4. 1992-03-10 Amnesty International reported that those charged were free on bail and no trial date had been set.
  5. 1993-03-04 Amnesty International recorded the 1992 case as still pending.

Sources

  1. Further information on UA 19/92 - Kenya: Professor Wangari Maathai (AFR 32/02/92)Amnesty International, 1992-01-20, secondary source
  2. UA 74/92 - Ill-treatment of peaceful demonstrators (AFR 32/04/92)Amnesty International, 1992-03-05, secondary source
  3. UA 58/93 - Kenya: Wangari Maathai - Fear for safety (AFR 32/07/93)Amnesty International, 1993-03-04, secondary source
  4. Further information on UA 19/92 - Kenya (AFR 32/05/92)Amnesty International, 1992-03-10, secondary source

Change history

  • 2026-10-26 Record published.

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