Kenya police fire tear gas during school drama competition

Kenya’s national high-school drama competition on Thursday, April 10, 2025, has been overshadowed by drama of its own.

This comes after police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd that had gathered to watch a controversial play.

Echoes of War is set in a fictional kingdom where the youth have lost faith in their leaders.

It features battles with the police and has drawn parallels with last year’s protests by young people against tax rises.

It was initially disqualified from the drama festival under unclear circumstances.

However, a High Court ruling overturned the decision and ordered it to be included.

Tensions flared in the western town of Nakuru on Thursday morning.

Students stormed out of the venue, demanding the release of the play’s author, Cleophas Malala, who had been detained by police.

The scriptwriter was blocked by police from meeting the students for final rehearsals on Wednesday evening.

Reports say the scriptwriter was a former senator, and he had penned the production for students from Butere Girls School,

Malala was later released without charge and praised the students for boycotting the play.

Malala said immediately after his release:

“The young girls of Butere Girls’ have exercised an act of heroic restoration.

“I’m determined to ensure that Echoes of War is displayed before a Kenyan audience,”

The students briefly sang the national anthem before dramatically leaving the hall, which was sealed off by anti-riot police, armed with batons and tear gas canisters.

“There’s no audience. Who are we performing for?” one of the girls told journalists.

According to the BBC, they also complained about police harassment.

Following news of Malala’s arrest, large crowds had gathered outside the venue curious to watch the play.

But anti-riot police had been deployed overnight in case of trouble and they fired tear gas to disperse the would-be audience.

Education Minister Julius Ogamba questioned the involvement of Malala in the competition, saying the politician was neither a teacher nor a play director.

“I wonder why a politician should be a script writer for a student performance.

“Even the competition loses value if we do not allow the teachers to be scriptwriters,” Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said.

He made the statement while warning politicians against using innocent students to settle their political scores.

“Let us have a thick line between politics and education,” he added.

The row has sparked public uproar.

Rights group, Amnesty International says it was “pointing to a worrying pattern of state-sponsored repression of free expression, press freedom, and the right to associate”.

Chief Justice Martha Koome said that Malala’s detention contravened the court order that the play, and its author, be allowed to take part in the competition.

“Defiance of court orders not only undermines the authority of the courts but also poses a serious threat to the rule of law, which is the bedrock of our society,” she added.

Prominent opposition figure Kalonzo Musyoka condemned the police for firing tear gas near students.

He praised the “brave” girls for declining to perform.

In a statement, the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) demanded that the students be allowed to stage their play like all the other competitors.

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