The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) has strongly condemned the actions of police officers who disrupted a school play at Butere Girls’ High School, describing the scene as reminiscent of “Gestapo tactics”. The Commission decried the presence of armed, uniformed officers who barred students, journalists, and members of the public from watching the performance, resorting to teargas at dawn to enforce their blockade.
In a strongly-worded statement, KHRC praised the students’ defiant response: “Students of Butere Girls’ High School responded with patriotic courage to the cruelty of the Ministry of Education in scheduling their performance at 6 a.m. as part of state repression, by singing the national anthem and walking off the stage. The High Court had directed that the play proceed, but the Drama Festival Committee’s decision to stage the performance at dawn, under duress, was a criminal attempt at compliance with that ruling.”
The Commission further noted that several schools had opted out of the National Schools and Colleges Drama Festival, citing an oppressive atmosphere surrounding this year’s event.
“We commend and celebrate the courage and patriotism of Kenya’s students in the face of an oppressive and insecure state and commit our solidarity with them,” the statement continued. “They have been fearless in taking this important play forward, even in the face of threats emanating from State House. This violent assault on the freedoms of thought, conscience, information, expression, and opinion—rights enshrined in the Constitution—violates the state’s obligation to provide education to children.”
KHRC highlighted the historical significance of the festival, stating:
“For 66 years, the Kenya Schools and Colleges Drama Festival has served as a platform for speaking truth to power. Yet, none of the regimes in Kenya’s post-independence history has exposed its own insecurity through such crude repression as witnessed in this case.”
The statement specifically addressed the play in question, Echoes of War, declaring:
“Regimes that ban, circumscribe or stifle artistic expression, such as the Butere Girls’ High School play, only confirm the truth in the art. The William Ruto regime fears the truth—that fifty students, speaking from a high school auditorium, can awaken the public.”
KHRC further condemned the violent suppression of creative expression and the attack on six journalists during the arrest of Cleophas Malala, the play’s director, calling such actions a betrayal of the youth.
“These muscular tactics of muzzling artistic expression and dialogic learning send a chilling message to the youth of this country—that they are not permitted to imagine a future shaped by young people who confront oppressors, challenge injustice, and drive transformation. That message is a monumental falsehood that must be dismantled.”
