Growing in the cradle: History, development, and functions of cartooning in Kenya

While cartooning in Kenya, given its visibility in print media, is gaining momentum, the art is a recent phenomenon that has picked pace only in the last three decades. Today the field is a motley of syndicates, comic strips, political cartoons, and visual narratives of life in urban Africa.; The growth of cartoons has been largely embedded in the development of print media. The same factors that have influenced the growth of newspapers in Kenya such as the colonial legacy, development communication, and the relative freedom of the press, have influenced cartooning development. Editorial oversight, press laws, media outlets, economy, and politics have added further impact.; The development of cartoons fall into four broad phases: humor oriented primitive cartoons that dominated the field up to the first decade of independence, socially oriented cartoons promoted by Joe Magazine, the transitional comic strip cartoons of the late 1970s, and finally political cartoons. The first phase is identifiable with Edward Gitau, the second with Terry Hirst, while the third featured the trio of Frank Odoi, James Tumisiime, and Philip Ndunguru. Paul Kelemba pioneered the fourth phase.; Different segments of the media perceive the role of cartoons differently. From the editorial point of view cartoons are seen to boost circulation, check the excesses of government, provide diversity in the newspaper, offer social commentaries, advocate issues, stimulate debate, fortify freedom of expression, and contribute to cultural formulation. Cartoonists, on the other hand, consider their role primarily as entertainment, story telling, and education.; Today's cartoons face many challenges among them editorial self-censorship, limited outlets, lack of depth on the part of cartoonists, weak economy, and the cost of materials. How these challenges are dealt with will determine the future of the art in Kenya.