Butere Girls not enemies of state! Gideon Moi on 'Echoes of War' play

Former Baringo Senator Gideon Moi now says that Butere Girls High School learners are not enemies of the state.

In a statement over recent activities around the school’s play dubbed Echoes of War, Moi said that the young girls should be celebrated for speaking the truth instead of being punished.

“The young girls of Butere are not enemies of the state but the daughters of this nation. Rather than be punished for speaking the truth through art, they should be celebrated,” Moi said.

He said their play is only a bold and thoughtful satire on the collapse of social services, entrenched patronage politics, and broken promises, reflecting the lived frustrations of our young people.

The play was banned and it only took the intervention of the Courts to have it reinstated for performing at the National Drama and Film Festival in Nakuru.

Butere Girls High School had been banned from staging their Gen Z-themed play on grounds that its theme critiques the government.

The court, however, lifted the ban on April 3 when Justice Wilfrida Okwany suspended any letter banning or barring the school from participating in the festival.

He likened it to Butere Girls’ 2013 play dubbed “Shackles of Doom” that was also banned. It was performed by the same school.

“It is ironic that peaceful expression is criminalised while violence by elements allied to the state is either ignored or covertly encouraged.”

Moi’s remarks come after the writer of Echoes of War, former UDA secretary general Cleophas Malala claimed that police attempted to arrest him as he went to meet Butere Girls learners for rehearsals.

In a video clip seen by the Star, Malala is seen in a stand-off with police officers led by a man he said was the Nakuru area DCIO outside Kirobon Girls High School in Nakuru's Rongai subcounty.

The school is one of the institutions hosting the Kenya Schools and Colleges National Drama and Music Festival.

The play explores contemporary issues like technology, governance and social justice, particularly relevant to Gen Z, and the struggle for young people on civil liberties.

It centres on a nation recovering from a civil war, with young citizens at the forefront of rebuilding efforts and critiques the role of digital spaces in governance and the power of youth in shaping societal change.