My job? I laugh at the rot in my community

As a child growing up in school, he would pick a newspaper or any magazine that came his way. His main interest was not the written news, but the graphic form of it. Then he would try to reproduce the images on rough pieces of paper. That was the beginning of his career as a cartoonist.

It was this childhood passion, or better still, fascination with cartoons and sketches that for over three decades, Abdul Kingo has slowly, but successfully turned into a profession, winning him not just an audience, but also recognition at home.

Perfecting his art over the years, the 41-year-old has stamped his authority on a field, little appreciated, yet feared and respected by, especially those in the corridors of power.

“I was a little boy when this all started, in primary school and doing it mostly for the sake of fun,” says the award-winning cartoonist.

Satiric look at life

He is now one of the growing numbers of acclaimed cartoonists in the country, whose satiric look at life in Tanzania has become a must-consume, daily routine among the sizeable number of newspaper readers.

Kingo is one of Tanzania’s award-winning cartoonists, whose strong, yet simple protest is hard to ignore.

For the second year running, the Business Leaders Perception (Best-AC) has awarded him the Best Cartoonist of the Year accolade and a cash prize of $1,200.

He has also emerged the first runner-up in the Best Cartoonist category of the Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) awards in Dar es Salaam. For that, he went home with a certificate of recognition.

Brilliantly drawn, it is the cartoon of a hapless investor standing on a mound in the middle of what appears to be a crocodile-infested river that won him the accolade last year.

Surrounding the mound and baying for the dollar-wielding investor’s blood, are four hungry, open-mouthed crocodiles. The cartoonist subtly identifies the crocodiles as corruption, taxes, abuse of power and red tape.

The message is simple: These are the four vices that stifle investment in the country. So straightforward, yet loaded with meaning. This is what has become his trademark.

This year, Kingo was at it again. His award-winning cartoon focused on the bureaucracy and related vices that make investment and registering a business in Tanzania a bottleneck.

“The message in my cartoons is for the public. I want everyone to know the problems that bedevil our society, especially with regard to the business sector, the small-scale business community,” he says.

Ideas from everyday life

He does not have to dig deep to get ideas for his cartoons. Since he began drawing cartoons many years ago, Kingo’s ideas have always been coming from everyday life.

“I would draw any picture I saw – from the newspapers and magazines,” he tells Success.

But also, it took him a lot of reading to be able to appreciate what is going on around him – to be the social and political commentator that he is today.

From inefficiency, bad leadership and corruption to the light issues of the day, Kingo’s satirical comments have earned him both admirers and critics in an almost equal measure.

“My ideas come from everyday experience. They are mostly based on the things I read, what I learn from the news on TV and radio. It’s all about the things that happen around me – the topics that I hear people discuss during various conversations,” says the IPP Media cartoonist.

Getting recognition in a field so vast is not easy, but once one gets the right message across, through the right channels, Kingo believes there will always be a keen audience.

Kingo was born in 1972 in Dar es Salaam. He did his primary education at Kawawa Primary School from 1989 to 1999.

He did not proceed to secondary school. Coming from a poor background, his parents could afford the fees, but instead enrolled at the Dar es Salaam Computing Centre for short computer courses.

“There was a time I had to sell used clothes and shoes in Kariakoo to raise fees for the short courses,” he says.

His move to newspapers came in 1994 when he joined Frontline Publishers. In 1996, he moved to IPP Media where he has since been working with The Guardian. Kingo had already been submitting joke cartoons in his own name.

The top cartoonist has his favourite subject.

“Issues that I like best are the ones involving our leaders having to face wananchi and answer questions on vices like corruption,” he says.

Like any other journalist

But his work is not without a fair share of its challenges. The risks of ruffling feathers, notwithstanding, Kingo says technological advancements over the years have been both a blessing and a source of anxiety for the local cartoonist.

“There is always this fear that you draw a cartoon of someone, and they don’t take it lightly,” says the satirist.

He adds: “But the main challenge as far as I am concerned is the need to pick up pace and move with the times in terms of technology. It’s an era of science and technology, and everything has become electronic, and we must adapt. But the question is, can we afford it? Are the modern devices available in the country?”

For the top cartoonist, the break-even point does not come on a silver platter. It takes a lot of effort and keen interest in current affairs to stay relevant.

“I wake up everyday at 6 a.m and the first work-related thing I do in the morning is follow the news on radio and TV. By 8 I will be in the office reading newspapers to get my idea for the day,” he says.

Since there is no special college that trains cartoonists in the country, the kind of work he does is a result of natural talent built over the years, and sharpened by following and learning from others.

Kingo says he gets his inspiration from the likes of Nation Media Group top editorial cartoonist Godfrey Mwampembwa, a.k.a Gado. The Nairobi-based cartoonist’s work is syndicated to the Daily and Sunday Nation.

“I am also inspired a lot by the work of Sammy Mwamkinga, Masoud Kipanya and Nathan Mpangala. All these cartoonists draw political cartoons. Every day, I learn new things through their cartoons,” he says.

Kingo is happy that today, Tanzanian satirists have a strong direction. The cartoonist is having a say in the media.

“Cartoons have weight in the media and our society. They have become an effective way of sending the message across to the right people,” he says.