Kenyaa Mzee

Onye Ji Onye N'ani Ji Onwe Ya—He Who Holds Another Down In The Mud Must Stay In The Mud To Keep Him Down — is the title of Kenyaa Mzee’s latest visual series. Inspired by an Igbo proverb introduced through the writings of Chinua Achebe, the series reflects on the stagnating legacies of extractive leadership within African politics, particularly in post-Apartheid South Africa.

 

This body of work critiques the enduring hegemonies and structural asymmetries that continue to define the continent’s sociopolitical landscape. Thirty years into democracy, South Africa still contends with chronic administrative collapse and an insulated governing cadre — echoes of a painful past masked by the illusion of progress.

 

Drawing from African cultural icons such as Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o—figures who have long confronted authority through music and literature—the work situates itself within a rich tradition of resistance. Within this context, Kenyaa employs the yellow caution sign as a stark emblem of a polity imperiled by unrestrained governance and avarice.

All together, compelling active and equitable reconstitution.