Radical cartoonist Gado joins Standard

Gado has already signed a contract with Standard newspapers.

Venerated cartoonist Gado is set to join the Standard nearly six months since he was booted out by the Nation Media Group after falling afoul of the governments of Kenya and Tanzania.
Business Today has established that the Tanzanian-born Gado (Godffrey Mwapembwa) has already put pen to paper at the Mombasa Road-based media house and all that stands between him and a return to traditional media is getting over the legal suit he instituted against NMG following his unceremonious exit late last year.
Gado was approached by Standard Group Editorial Director Joseph Odindo, his former boss at Nation, when Nation decided to kick out the caricaturist late last year. “The terms and conditions have already been agreed upon,” said someone close to Gado. “It’s not if but he will move when he clears with Nation.”

See Also: Gado signed up by Deutsche Welle

Gado ran into trouble with the government of former Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete after he drew a cartoon that made non-sense of his war on corruption while in Kenya, President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto were not impressed by his illustrations that poked holes in their good governance credentials while depicting them as a pair bogged down by their cases at the International Criminal Court.
The cases have since been set aside due to lack of evidence amid prosecution claims of witness intimidation and State sabotage.

Early this month, Gado alongside Malaysian cartoonist Zunar, was awarded the 2016 Cartooning for Peace Prize at a ceremony in Geneva by the honorary president of the Swiss Foundation, former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan.

“I am always amazed at the creative wit of these artists who with a single image can capture the paradoxes and absurdity of injustice of a complex problem more effectively than a hundred speeches. Artists like Gado and Zunar are taking risks for speaking truth to power. They deserve all the recognition we can give them which hopefully can also contribute to their protection,” said Annan.

“It’s a great encouragement because whatever you have been doing there are people who are behind you and there are people who recognise your efforts and that goes a long way in pushing you forward,” said Gado while commenting on the award. “I think what we have seen in many African countries is the shrinking space of the media. This space is a contestant space and the challenge is always to protect that space.”.
Also See:

>> Gado wins international editorial cartoon prize

>> The bold Cartoons that got Gado fired by Nation