Take a copy of the Standard newspaper today and turn to the editorial page. If you are a keen reader of newspapers you will notice something missing: Gado’s Cartoon. It’s not by accident, according to insiders.
The cartoon that was to run today was ‘killed’ for being too harsh on President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto. Instead, the newspaper ran a dull image of Valentine couple in Philippines taking a photo, meaning the decisions was taken too late to have another cartoon prepared.
The cartoon, which Business Today has obtained, is cleverly designed to deliver a deadly message! While it shows the two Jubilee principals unfazed by the jailing of doctors’ union officials and by extension the continuing strike of these health professionals, it captures many people dying in hospital beds.
Then Gado, in his ever-so-spicy style, delivers the punchline: They can still be registered, you know! This hits Uhuru and Ruto where it hurts most, implying that dead people could (or can) be registered to vote! Or maybe they have been registered.
It is not clear who ordered the cartoon not to be published but the only people with such powers in the newsroom are Managing Editor, Editorial Director/Editor in Chief and, of course, the CEO. When asked by BT why the cartoon was not published Gado, whose official name is Godfrey Mwampembwa, said, “I don’t know what happened.”
Coming at a time when voters’ numbers have become the focus ahead of the August general elections, the comment can be as damaging as the case of National Youth Service being used to register voters informally or claims that underage children had been registered in Jubilee strongholds.
See Also >> Cartoon that got Gado fired from Nation
This could be the first time Gado’s cartoon is missing on the editorial page since he joined Standard Group mid last year, and will be reality dawning on him that the forces that had him pushed out of Nation Media Group have sway at Standard as well.
In fact, to show his defiance, Gado still draws Ruto with the trademark headgear of the Sikh Indian men, a tag picked from the Lang’ata Primary school land grabbing in which the DP was implicated through a firm owned by investors with ‘Singh’ surname, which was taken to be a decoy.
With election campaigns gaining momentum, crackdown on media will intensify and radical journalists like Gado will find their freedom space shrinking by the day.
It is said that State House is already applying pressure on Standard to tame Gado and recently recruited weekends editor, Dennis Galava. Jubilee stewards are dangling a political carrot for Standard Group CEO Sam Shollei, whose wife, Gladys Boss, is seeking the post of Uasin Gishu County woman representative. According to sources, Jubilee is offering a direct nomination for Gladys in exchange for favourable coverage on Standard Group’s print and broadcast platforms.
Read >> How radical cartoonist joined Standard Group
Already, Galava, who was bundled out of Nation through State House influence, is under the radar. It is suspected that recent article published in the Sunday Standard touching on Mama Ngina Kenyatta, President Uhuru’s mother, is behind the new clamour to rein in Standard, or Galava for that matter. In the article, the Kenyatta family is shown as having a special ivory trading licence and owning huge swathes of land in a country where millions are squatters.
Quoting one of the CIA memos says, the Standard reported: “Mama Ngina and Margaret Kenyatta are probably the country’s two largest charcoal and ivory traders – particularly lucrative businesses. Although the export of these items is banned because depletion of Kenya’s forests and wildlife threaten the underpinning of the Kenyan economy, both women have been able to obtain special licenses. For instance, shortly after a ban on ivory exports (except for tusks from elephants that died of natural causes or shot for control purposes), went into effect, the United Africa Corporation, whose chairman and chief stockholder is Margaret Kenyatta received an export licence for 1,250 baby elephant tusks.”
A source at Standard said Galava has been warned to “leave that family alone”.
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