Kenya-based Ghanaian cartoonist dies in Nairobi accidentBy AFRICAREVIEW.COM | Monday, April 23  2012 at  16:09

Kenya-based Ghanaian cartoonist Frank Odoi was among those killed in a Nairobi road accident Saturday night.

Mr Odoi's family has just found out about his death, some 48 hours later.

Three people were Saturday night killed in the accident along Nairobi's Jogoo Road.

Kenyan publication, The Standard on Sunday, quoted the driver of the ill-fated Double M bus telling the police he was trying to avoid hitting a pedestrian when it overturned at about 9.40pm, local time.

The bus was on the way to Donholm estate from the city centre.

Mr Odoi was aged 64.

His 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 organised by the Land Development and Governance Institute on Thursday last week. He spoke on how the Institute could use caricature to sensitise 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 practising. 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 organisation of East African cartoonists.