Mtenda akitendwa huwaje
Mtenda akitendwa huwaje. The main message of a kanga is conveyed by the Swahili writing. The writings are mostly formulated in riddles or sayings and are thus an indirect way of saying certain things. For this kind of communication, there is no fixed meaning and it is very dependent on the context or the situation. Hence, there are limitless interpretations of the meaning of a kanga or why someone wishes to express a certain emotion.
The writing on the kanga in the main picture is a perfect example of this. Mtenda akitendwa huwaje - ‘If the leader is led by someone else, how can he/she be a leader?’ The woman wearing this kanga criticized a leader - and she did so publicly without fear of being held responsible for this criticism.