Satirical Relief

Reading the newspapers in Kenya often involves sifting through stories of murderous jilted lovers, acts of depraved pedophilia and pages of political reportage that consistently fail to take the country's politicians to task. Sure, press freedoms are not all they could be. You do not have to cast your mind too far back to recall the armed raids on the offices of the Standard Newspaper and Kenya Television Network which the  government supposedly ordered on the grounds of "protecting state security".  Perhaps the media has has less room in which to manoeuvre than might appear?

But if you want an example of someone willing to push the boundaries and indulge himself in political satire then check out GADO's sketches. GADO - real name Godfrey Mwampembwa - rarely fails to read between the lines and let his pencil do the talking. Take today's sketch (see left) over recent calls from certain quarters within the cabinet for an amnesty for those who committed all manner of heinous crimes during the post election violence. The speech bubble "my people need protection" says it all and anecdotal evidence says that protection could be needed higher up the political echelons than many Kenyans would like to accept.
 

What bugs me is why if GADO gets it can the reporters not say it, instead filling column inches with who will make up yet another commission of inquiry.

This is my favourite sketch of the year. It sums up perfectly the outcome to the political turmoil: more than a thousand lives lost for the sake of two egos being able to say they both won. At the time my friend Steve Bloomfield, who writes for The Independent, asked Raila Odinga why neither he nor Kibaki had been out to their constituencies to defuse the tension. His answer - something along the lines of 'there's nothing I can do' - was nauseating. This sketch said more than all the commentaries and analysis that filled the papers.

GADO's work is a breath of fresh air in a paper that aligns itself a little to closely to Kibaki for my liking.