Prof Okidi: Lifetime journey of a committed academic

Pioneer African scholars who started their academic careers in the 1960s and 1970s and served the country’s institutions of higher learning with distinction for a generation are getting into their sunset years.

Some have exited the scene. During their time, they did their best to chart the academic path the country has walked. Many of them also took up national and international assignments and excelled.

However, beyond their academic engagements, few have documented their experiences – struggles during those difficult periods, challenges and triumphs – to benefit posterity. There is a lot of unwritten literature out there that, unless chronicled, may be lost with the passing times. Which is the reason there is real need for memoirs by such acclaimed figures.

This is the challenge Prof Charles Okidi, who officially retired from the University of Nairobi three years ago, has taken unto himself, to document, quite comprehensively, his life history, which in a sense, is a mirror of the prevailing socio-economic and political trends of his time.

Unlike the banal memoirs that dominate the literary landscape, of rise from grass to grace creed, this is a carefully thought-out treatise that teases out important milestones in his life and gives them critical examination and context within the broader national and international scene.

Determination

Prof Okidi, a distinguished and globally acclaimed authority in environmental law, takes readers through a lifetime journey of struggles, determination, commitment and dedication that saw him walk from Kanji, Karachuonyo in Homa Bay on the shores of Lake Victoria, to Maseno School, Kiganjo Police Training College, where he was enlisted as a cadet, and later to Alaska Methodist University in the US for a bachelor’s degree and, subsequently, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Massachusetts, for master’s and doctoral degrees; and to boot, a post-doctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Centre for International Studies.

But it is in service that Prof Okidi excelled, either as an academic at the University of Nairobi and Moi University, or at the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep), where he was instrumental in assisting various African countries in formulating and institutionalising environmental law.

In 1988, just four years after Moi University had been founded, Dr Okidi was appointed a professor and made dean of the school of environmental studies with the express mission of actualising its objective. The school had been established but without requisite infrastructure – curriculum, faculty and resources.

So the first assignment was to develop the curriculum, embark on aggressive staff development and mobilise resources to put up the facilities. Through his wide networks nationally and globally, Prof Okidi was able to put the school on its feet and grow great levels.

The University of Nairobi, his academic home, benefitted immensely from Prof Okidi. Beyond his academic and research engagements, he played a pivotal role in setting up units and fundraising for various programmes. Standing out is the Centre for Advanced Study of Environmental Law that he single-handedly founded and grew to maturity. This progressed to become a remarkable centre for multidisciplinary studies for postgraduate programmes in environmental law and policy.

His other achievement in academic circles was steering Karatina University, as founding council chairman, from a constituent college to a full-fledged institution of higher learning with heavy orientation in agriculture, environmental studies, natural and applied science and technology.

At the national level, he was instrumental in the development of Kenya’s framework for environmental law. Importantly, he spearheaded the formulation of the Environmental Management Coordination Act that came to pass in 1999 and was revised in 2012. A major component was the establishment of the National Environmental Management Authority (Nema), which has since evolved as a pivotal regulator.

International figure

Despite being a high-flying national and international figure, Prof Okidi kept a strong sense of communal service. He has been involved in many projects either in his Kanjira location, Rachuonyo Constituency, or the entire Homa Bay County. One of his pet projects is the proposed Integrity School, which he is setting up in Ndhiwa Constituency, a model learning institution founded on the principals of ethics and integrity. Prof Okidi played a catalytic role in the establishment of many public institutions, locally, nationally and globally.

A remarkable trait of Prof Okidi is his meticulous record-keeping and sharp memory. All his correspondences, be they letters of job appointments, memos and official communication, are all neatly kept and reproduced in the book. Events and interactions are captured in fine detail. Historical facts are properly explained and effortlessly weaved into the narrative of his personal life.

For any reader, the book is a walk through the evolution of environmental law and policy in Kenya, Africa and globally. The author’s life is inextricably intertwined with milestones and momentous developments in the fields of environmental law. It is fitting that rather than wait for historians to narrate his life and times, Prof Okidi has studiously done it.

The book adds to the growing list of memoirs that takes readers through lived experiences of individuals who witnessed and participated in important historical, national and social events that shaped the destiny of our country.

The book will be launched next Friday and is available at Prestige Bookshop in Nairobi, among other places.

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