User talk:Vasanji
Managing a conflict of interest
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Hello, Vasanji. We welcome your contributions, but if you have an external relationship with the people, places or things you have written about on the page Wangari wa Nyatetu-Waigwa, you may have a conflict of interest (COI). Editors with a conflict of interest may be unduly influenced by their connection to the topic. See the conflict of interest guideline and FAQ for article subjects for more information. We ask that you:
- avoid editing or creating articles about yourself, your family, friends, colleagues, company, organization, clients, or competitors;
- propose changes on the talk pages of affected articles (you can use the Edit Request Wizard), including links or details of reliable sources that support your suggestions;
- disclose your conflict of interest when discussing affected articles (see Wikipedia:Conflict of interest § How to disclose a COI);
- avoid linking to your organization's website in other articles (see Wikipedia:Spam § External link spamming);
- do your best to comply with Wikipedia's content policies.
In addition, you are required by the Wikimedia Foundation's terms of use to disclose your employer, client, and affiliation with respect to any contribution which forms all or part of work for which you receive, or expect to receive, compensation. See Wikipedia:Paid-contribution disclosure.
Also, editing for the purpose of advertising, publicizing, or promoting anyone or anything is not permitted. Thank you. Sumanuil. (talk to me) 22:09, 28 August 2025 (UTC)
- This is from Christopher Stone ('Vasanji'), the widower of Wangarĩ wa Nyatetũ-Waigwa. When I learnt on 27 August that there was a Wikipedia page for my wife, I was of course keen to examine it, after which I felt it needed a few corrections. The first of these was to insert the Kikuyu vowels ĩ and ũ where they ought to be. Although I was unable to do it in the title, those vowels should also be used in her name for the main heading of the article, as they are for the Wikipedia article on Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o. While I was at it, I made a few other changes that I believed were warranted. Although Wangarĩ's connection with the book Refuge is of interest, I was rather taken aback by the quotation from Terry Tempest Williams, as it doesn't sound true to how Wangarĩ actually spoke. For example, I find it hard to believe she would ever have said she was 'raised' (as if she were a crop or an animal!), instead of 'brought up' or 'reared', as human beings are. Terry is a friend, but I daresay she indulged in a bit of literary embroidery when reporting that conversation.
- I was not aware of Wikipedia's 'conflict of interest' policy when I made my changes, but I appeal to you to let them stand. Her Wikipedia page may be one of Wangarĩ's most enduring public memorials, and I should like it to be as accurate and well-written as possible.
- It appears that creating Wikipedia pages for people she never actually knew is something of a cottage industry for 'Penny Richards'. It is also evident that she obtained nearly all her information from the obituary I wrote for the Ogden Standard-Examiner. The goal of my attempted Wikipedia edits was largely just to change it back to what I had originally written in that obituary.
- I noticed somewhere that Wikipedia is asking for a photo of Wangarĩ to accompany the article, and I shall be happy to supply one if I am told how to do it.
- Thank you for reading this lengthy request, and I hope you will be able to grant me permission to make these edits I believe to be important. Vasanji (talk) 01:43, 30 August 2025 (UTC)
- I can't "let them stand", both because of the conflict of interest and because you were "correcting" things like reference URLS and file names. And creating articles (not pages) about (not for) people one doesn't know is how Wikipedia is supposed to work. One is not supposed to write about one's own friends or family, so a biography is going to be created by strangers. You will have to make an edit request on the article talk page. Sumanuil. (talk to me) 03:55, 30 August 2025 (UTC)
- Thank you for responding so quickly.
- I am indeed pleased that someone ('Penny Richards') wrote a Wikipedia article about my late wife. As I implied in my previous message, I am most grateful that it exists and will stand as a lasting public memorial to the remarkable woman who was my dearest love. However, since most of its content was clearly gleaned from an obituary written (contrary to Wikipedia policy, as you say) by 'friends or family' (viz, me), I do not understand why Ms Richards chose to make certain gratuitous changes, including even spellings (e.g., replacing the correct Kikuyu vowels with English ones).
- I am sorry if I inadvertently changed 'reference URLS and file names', since I don't even know what those are. (This was my first – and so far only – attempt to edit a Wikipedia article.)
- Following your advice, if I can figure out how to do it I will reiterate my editing request on the article talk page. Vasanji (talk) 11:47, 30 August 2025 (UTC)
- I can't "let them stand", both because of the conflict of interest and because you were "correcting" things like reference URLS and file names. And creating articles (not pages) about (not for) people one doesn't know is how Wikipedia is supposed to work. One is not supposed to write about one's own friends or family, so a biography is going to be created by strangers. You will have to make an edit request on the article talk page. Sumanuil. (talk to me) 03:55, 30 August 2025 (UTC)