Cartoonist Odoi dies in accident

The late veteran cartoonist Frank Odoi

Veteran cartoonist Frank Odoi, 64 died in a road accident in Nairobi on Saturday.

He was travelling in a bus on Jogoo Road, Nairobi, that veered off the road and overturned, killing two passengers.

Mr Odoi’s works were widely published over the years in newspapers across East Africa, including the Daily Nation.

His colleagues remembered him as a talented artist.

“He was one of the speakers in an event organized by the Land Development and Governance Institute on Thursday last week. He spoke on how the Institute could use caricature to sensitize the public on upcoming bills on land reforms,” said Mr Samuel Muigai, a cartoonist at the Nation.

Mr Odoi is the author of the Akokan Comic book.

Nairobi traffic commandant Patrick Lumumba explained the cause of the 8pm accident: “The driver of the bus swerved to avoid hitting a pedestrian who was crossing the road. The bus veered off, overturned and landed in a ditch.”

“Frank was one of the pioneer cartoonists in Kenya who was still practicing. Long before I started doing my own works, when I was still in school, he was being published and his illustrations inspired me,” said Mr John Nyaga, a cartoonist at the Nation.

Mr Adoi studied fine arts &design at Ghanatta school of arts in 1974.

Besides the Daily Nation, his work was also published in the East African Standard (Kenya), the Kenya Times, Ugandan monitor, Vision (Uganda), Daily Graphic (Ghana), Noticias (Mozambique), Dejembe Dapanda (Denmark), Helsingen Sanomat (Finland) and BBC focus on Africa magazine.

Mr Odoi was also a director of Four Dimension Innovative and Buni Ltd and chairman of the organization of East African cartoonists.