[NAIROBI] “A great loss” for science journalism as Kenyan science journalist Ochieng’ Ogodo—the former head of SciDev.Net’s English language Africa edition—passed away in the early hours of Thursday (17 April).

Ogodo, Africa editor of Mongabay, started out in journalism in 1996 at The East African Standard, now known as The Standard in Kenya, one of the country’s leading media houses.

From September 1999 to October 2003, Ogodo moved to the paper’s investigative desk as one of the few writers for the then widely read investigative pullout, The Big Issue.

After his stint at The Standard, Ogodo started working as a freelance journalist, where he contributed to SciDev.Net, The Guardian of the UK, the BMJ, and University World News among others.

In 2008, Ogodo won the English-Speaking Africa and the Middle East region of the Reuters/IUCN Media Awards in Excellence in Environmental Reporting.

In 2010, Ogodo became the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Coordinator and Editor for SciDev.Net, and in 2017, he was elected a member of the Executive Board of the World Federation of Science Journalists.

“Ochieng’ played a critical role in the development of SciDev.Net and spearheaded the development of our Sub-Saharan Africa English desk,” said SciDev.Net’s managing editor Ben Deighton.

“Today is a sad day for science journalism.”

SciDev.Net’s training coordinator, Charles Wendo, described Ogodo as a dedicated and highly accomplished science journalist.

“His passion for science journalism and commitment to building the capacity of others was truly inspiring.

“His death is a great loss to the science journalism community—he will be deeply missed.”

Lynne Smit, editor at Nature Africa, said: “I was privileged to interact with Ochieng’ on a number of occasions and was always impressed with his passionate commitment to sharing the stories of African science with the world.

“He was a giant in our profession, and his passing leaves a gap that will not easily be filled.”

Ogodo’s successor at SciDev.Net’s Sub-Saharan Africa English desk, Ogechi Ekeanyanwu, described him as “a force in science journalism … a repertoire of knowledge and leads to the best science stories”.

“It is such a huge loss to science journalism—to Africa and to the world at large.”

Bernard Appiah, a former colleague of Ogodo’s at SciDev.Net, said: “Ogodo had a passion for transforming science journalism in Africa.

“Africa has lost a pillar in science journalism.”

For Jackie Opara, SciDev.Net’s Sub-Saharan Africa assistant news editor: “Ogodo was a towering figure in the African journalism landscape—he was not only my former colleague whom I closely worked with, but also a friend and mentor.”

Opara recalls the first time she reached out to Ogodo as a freelance writer: “To my surprise, he already knew me, that simple gesture changed everything.

“He dedicated his life to mentoring African science journalists and building capacity across the continent.”

His close friends also knew him as an ardent supporter of the English Premier League side, Arsenal. Ogodo had followed every bit of Wednesday’s second leg Champions League quarter final game where his side Arsenal made mincemeat out of Real Madrid at the Bernabeu stadium in Spain’s capital, Madrid.

“He loved to travel and had a strong passion for football, which he spent his final moments doing—watching Arsenal win against Madrid,” added Opara.

Nairobi-based science journalist Dann Okoth, who was also a friend of Ogodo, was chatting with him the night before he passed away as they watched the game enjoying Arsenal’s win.

“Then we spent more time talking about a story he had commissioned me to do for Mongabay,” said Okoth. “I knew Ogodo as a fine science journalist and editor, but perhaps more as a good person and a dear friend. His demise is devastating for me.”

This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.