On Thursday, April 10, national drama festivals aroused the attention of most Kenyans. Butere Girls triggered a protest from students from other schools attending the national drama festivals.
The chaotic events began after Butere girls presented a controversial play, ‘Echoes of War.’ The students took their stage around 8am on Thursday, April 10. However, they just sang the national anthem and walked out of the stage.
Butere Girls Denied to Perform
Chai254.co.ke has since learned that the girls were denied a public address system meant to facilitate the whole National Drama Festivals. Once the girls got the chance to perform their play, they could not access a string or other basic infrastructure for performance enhancement.
However, other schools accessed all the basic resources like microphones, props, and other relevant equipment. Additionally, the girls were denied an audience for their play. This frustrated the girls further.
According to circulating videos, the girls looked despairing as they exited the stage. The students demanded the presence of their director, the former UDA Secretary General Cleophas Malala.
In vain, the event organizers tried to calm the angered girls who stormed a stage outside the Melvin Johns Hall. “We want to perform, and we want our director. It is our right to perform,” the girls demanded.
After being questioned, one of the Butere Girl’s drama squad said, “We were being harassed by the police. They took us to the stage with nothing. We had no equipment.” Later, right after the brief interview, students from other schools joined the protest. This prompted the police to intervene.
As the protest’s tempo increased, anti-President Ruto chants forced the police to use tear gas. This made the students fall back into their respective buses. The event blended with the viral news of Malala being arrested the night before the protest. Malala publicly admitted that he wrote the script in question.
