There is a question we have all been asked about something we don’t like or that irks us deeply: “What are you doing about it?”
Michael Werikhe is a Kenyan activist and perfect example of someone whose frustration made him work towards change. And the two words that best describe him? Relentless and undaunted.
Michael’s loved animals from the time he was in primary school. At Hospital Hill Primary School in Parklands his love for wildlife came to life. He was eleven years old when he started adopting stray reptiles he found around his family home in Westlands. Michael took some of his new pets to school with him and confined them to his desk. It’s possible he let of his close classmates know about the school’s secret visitors. His passion for wildlife was carried through to Kaloleni where he attended St. George’s High School and gained an interest in bigger animals: the mammals found in Kenya and their contribution to Kenya’s growing tourism industry.
At 19 Michael got his first job. He moved back to Mombasa to work as a data entry clerk at Fort Jesus. Michael’s primary task was to catalogue poached elephant ivory and rhinoceros horns. This job went against his passion for animals. He wanted to seek justice for the blameless animals being poached.
Armed with resilience, Michael began walking as his way of rallying for the endangered animals. He started in December of 1982, walking from Mombasa to Nairobi, a tedious journey that lasted 27 days. And for his overnight accommodation and food, he relied on the goodwill of people he met along the way who would also be inspired by his efforts to curb poaching in Kenya.
Three years later, he worked on his second rally, one that took him beyond Kenya. He walked from Kampala to Dar es Salaam and concluded his rally in Mombasa. With more people hearing and sharing his story, Michael Werikhe gained more recognition, gaining the nickname ‘The Rhino Man’, sought after by organizations that shared the same conservation interests like The Kenya Wildlife Service and The World Society for the Protection of Animals (now World Animal Protection).
In 1988, Michael took his rally farther north – to Europe, where he walked 3000 kilometres across four countries. This pushed him to remain resolute in his stance for endangered animals and it was only a matter of time before he received an official salutation.
It came in 1990. Michael was honoured with The Goldman Environmental Prize – an award that fetes environmental heroes from the world’s six inhabited continents. The award drove Michael to keep going. In 1993, he journeyed to Taiwan – an infamous market for ivory and rhino horn – to spearhead two wildlife campaigns. The success of this welcomed more people into his cause. He had gone into an ivory market and boldly spoken out against the ills it perpetuated back in Kenya.
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Since his demise in 1999, Michael Werikhe – The Rhino Man – is still remembered for his tireless walks. Fuelled by a deep love for Kenya’s wildlife, his forthright stand against poaching saved countless elephant and rhino lives. His is a legacy of #KeExcellence we can all surely learn from and emulate.
