For many students, the Kenya National Drama and Film Festival is more than just a stage—it’s a platform for truth, expression, and national conversation. But for Butere Girls High School, the 2025 festival turned into a heartbreaking ordeal that ended not with applause, but with tears and silence.
The school was scheduled to perform “Echoes of War,” a powerful and politically charged play written by former Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala. The drama tackled themes of governance, youth empowerment, and the haunting impact of leadership on communities—heavy but necessary topics for a generation navigating a turbulent world.
Yet despite a High Court ruling on April 3 allowing the students to participate after earlier interference from school management, their journey to the national stage in Nakuru took a dark turn. On the morning of their performance, the Butere Girls drama team was denied essential stage tools—no microphones, no set pieces, no proper technical support. They were expected to perform in silence, stripped of the very tools needed to bring their message to life.
Instead of delivering their lines, the students made a quiet but profound statement. They stepped onto the stage, sang the Kenyan National Anthem in unison, and walked off—visibly distraught, some in tears. Their walkout was a cry for dignity, a response to what they described as deliberate frustration and intimidation.
The absence of their director, Cleophas Malala—who had reportedly been arrested the night before at Kirobon Girls High School—only deepened the sense of injustice. Following the performance debacle, Malala reported that about 15 students were missing, urging authorities to intervene and ensure their safety.
This incident has ignited national conversation around the treatment of student performers, censorship in artistic spaces, and the role of the Ministry of Education in nurturing—not stifling—critical thought through the arts.
What happened to Butere Girls High School is more than a school controversy; it’s a mirror held up to our nation, reflecting our fears, our power struggles, and the bravery of youth refusing to be silenced.
Let us not forget the echoes of that war. They sang their anthem, and in doing so, performed the most powerful piece of all.