A Kenyan artist named Mazola wa Mwashighadi from Taita Taveta has been fatally shot in Jamaica.
The multi-disciplinary artist was shot during an armed robbery at a hotel in Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth, on Friday, December 5, 2025.
The shooting reportedly happened around 12:20 a.m. in Billy’s Bay. Mwashighadi was pronounced dead after being rushed to Mandeville Hospital, where he succumbed to gunshot wounds.
Kenyans and Jamaicans Mourn Mazola wa Mwashighadi who was Killed in Jamaica
Following his death, Jamaican authorities imposed a curfew in the affected area. Police are searching for those responsible for killing the international artist, who was living and working in Treasure Beach.
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After his death, Kenyans, including close friends, sent condolences, and he was mourned by his close friends in Jamaica.
Muyesi Bemwinzi, a close friend of the 61-year-old artist, said, “Badly shaken by the killing of my brother and true friend Mazola wa Mwashighadi! Rest easy, my brother, till we meet again!”
Tabitha wa Thuku Art shared her reflections about the artist, recalling their connection and conversations before he moved to Jamaica.
“We are spirits living in some form. Whenever I spoke to Mazola, I still felt like he was in Kenya. I always thought that one day I would visit him and we would do a workshop together. The day he applied for the Commonwealth Art and Craft Competition, his killer was either being born or had just been born in Mazola’s favorite nation, Jamaica,” said Tabitha.
Andy Jefferson, a Jamaican artist, called Mwashighadi’s death a heartbreaking loss. “Absolutely devastating to hear about the tragic shooting death of my friend and fellow artist Mazola wa Mwashighadi in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. Such a talented, peaceful, humble, and wise soul who certainly never deserved this violent demise. RIP Mazola, you will be missed by the whole artistic community as well as your family and friends. It’s unfathomable how anyone could do this when the country so badly needs to heal and rebuild after the recent devastation of Hurricane Melissa,” said Jefferson.
Mwashighadi reportedly moved to Jamaica around 30 years ago from Kenya.
About the Artist
The 62-year-old was a versatile multidisciplinary artist working with various mediums, including free-form sculpture (wood, metal, found objects), drawing, painting, and installation art.
He used “junk and scrap” or found objects, viewing this practice as a form of healing, giving new life to discarded items and linking his work to themes of loss and renewal within the Black diaspora.
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His art often explored profound themes of identity, spirituality, environmental concerns, politics, and the Black experience, employing abstract and ritualistic expressions of Kenyan heritage.
He trained as a teacher in Kenya and later earned a diploma in Fine Art from the Creative Art Centre in Nairobi.
In 1997, he received the Commonwealth Art and Craft Fellowship Award, which took him to the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston, Jamaica, where he majored in sculpture and ultimately made his home.
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