Painter learns fine art of managing tracking firm

• A German friend came to his home and saw his paintings and suggested he submits his portfolio to the Offenbach Academy of Art and he was admitted to the academy in 2003 and only left in 2010 after the global economic downturn, when life in Europe got more expensive than a fledgling artist with a family could afford.
• It was upon return to Kenya that Onditi quickly got back into business, this time with his brother and cousin.
• “We started a vehicle tracking company with my cousin’s financial backing,” he said. Initially he spent time marketing Aviarest Trackers Ltd, which Onditi admits comes naturally as he gets along with most people. As such, today, the business is thriving.
• But in the meantime, the public face of Paul Onditi is not so much as the managing director of Aviarest Trackers, but as an illustrious artist who’s been based at Kuona Trust since 2011, after he got his vehicle tracking business off the ground.
• As it turns out, Onditi’s uncompromising attitude in the arts is one factor that has enabled him to quickly become one of Kenya’s most exciting and original contemporary artists who has won accolades everywhere from the Manjano (Nairobi Provincial) Art Festival to the annual ISK Art Fair.

If Paul Onditi hadn’t followed his wife Christine and new born son, James, to Frankfurt, Germany in 2003, the Kenyan-born entrepreneur and artist would probably be a fresh fish supplier in Gaborone, Botswana, today.

Familiarity with the fish business had been ‘given’ for a young man from Kendu Bay. But building a fish business in Botswana was something else altogether.

“It began initially as an adventure,” said Onditi who left a job in 2000, working in ‘technical records’ at CMC Aviation to make a tour of southern Africa and then settled down for a time in Gaborone.

“I found out that Tilapia was available in Okavango Delta, so I bought a deep freezer and then I’d either dry, fry or sell the fresh Tilapia to Zambians, Zimbabweans, and even Kenyans who were doing business there,” said Onditi who enjoyed going to collect the fish.

But as much as he loved the fish business, Onditi loved his wife and son more, and since Christine was a medical student in Frankfurt, he felt his family deserved his support and so he chose to travel with them.

“I had just a few days before my visa expired, when a German friend came to our home and saw my paintings. He suggested I submit my portfolio to the Offenbach Academy of Art, which I did,’’ recalled Onditi who had been painting since primary school.

He was admitted to the academy in 2003 and only left in 2010 after the global economic downturn, when life in Europe got more expensive than a fledgling artist with a family could afford.

It was upon return to Kenya that Onditi quickly got back into business, this time with his brother and cousin.

“We started a vehicle tracking company with my cousin’s financial backing,” he said. Initially he spent time marketing Aviarest Trackers Ltd, which Onditi admits comes naturally as he gets along with most people. As such, today, the business is thriving.

Pointing out that his business is not only about tracking cars, buses and lorries that have the potential for getting ‘lost’, Onditi says the business also keeps track of fuel.

“We have equipment that ensures petrol cannot be siphoned out of vehicles,” he adds. Noting that the name of his company is unusual, Onditi admits there were aspects of his job working in aviation that were enjoyable. “We hope to get into the field of aviation eventually.”

But in the meantime, the public face of Paul Onditi is not so much as the managing director of Aviarest Trackers, but as an illustrious artist who’s been based at Kuona Trust since 2011, after he got his vehicle tracking business off the ground.

“I wanted to keep my art separate from my business,” says Onditi who feels strongly about not wanting to compromise the quality of his art by painting solely with a price tag in mind.

Yet there’s a lot about Onditi the entrepreneur that correlates with Onditi the artist. For both are adventurous, ambitious and innovative.

Both are ready and willing to be experimental and try new things. And both have no fear of failure since the man is too busy moving forward to speculate about success.