Nairobi’s (In)Famous Graffiti Artists Turn Tail

A great philosopher once said that if you don’t stand for something then you will surely fall for anything. Well, after such a spirited fight that saw these group of artists go down the path that few chose to follow to express themselves through art and spread a relevant message, a number have turned tail and abandon their ’cause’.

At the helm of the artists who dared to fight corruption and what they termed as political oppression through thought provoking and distinctly clear graffiti on Nairobi’s streets and roads was the award winning photojournalist Boniface Mwangi.

A number of Nairobians considered the somewhat radical art to be quite attractive, both in the way the simple yet stinging message was delivered as well as impressed by the sheer boldness of the gesture. NTV even did a follow up piece on the effort the group of artists put into their work, night and day to come up with their final product.

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Video on revealing the identities of the Graffiti artists (by NTV Kenya)

As expected, the City Council of Nairobi put up quite a fight, outrightly painting over the graffiti which was in more conspicuous corners of the city, as some politicians bayed for their blood: Boniface was even apprehended by the authorities at some point for ‘questioning’ as he confessed to being behind the team.

The 2010 CNN Mulitchoice Photography Award winner is a distraught man following the defection of some of his team mates towards ‘Team Vulture’ – the term used by the artists to refer to the political elite that choose to oppress Kenya for so long.

Click here to read more on Grafitti Redefining Nairobi

On his Twitter feed, Mr. Mwangi ranted and raved of how some are ‘selling their souls for money’ since they are ‘now working for the most corrupt, evil vultures campaign team’ (Kenya goes to the polls either some time late this year or early next year).

‘The people you are working for bled this country through corruption and you know it. Why do you want them to be president?’ lamented Boniface, going on, ‘We hustled together, cursed the vultures for ruining our youthful dreams. Now you have sold your soul to them? I’m shocked!’

The question then begs, would you fight for your cause unfalliably?