Draft:Echoes of War (Butere Girls School Play)

• Comment: While there was a lot of coverage, none seems to be since April 2025, suggesting a lack of sustained impact. Curb Safe Charmer (talk) 14:11, 19 June 2025 (UTC)

• Comment: I recommend test the plot and characters sections be annotated with in-line references. Bryan MacKinnon (talk) 09:49, 5 June 2025 (UTC)

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Echoes of War is a Kenyan school play written by Cleophas Malala for Butere Girls High School, for the 2025 Kenya National High-school Drama competition. Malala has explained that the play was inspired the 2024 Gen-Z led Kenya Finance Bill Protests.

Plot

The play is set in the fictional kingdom in the Middle East, Royal Velvet Emirates. It is ruled by Sultan, the antagonist of the play. In the kingdom, there is a growing divide between the younger generation and the older generation. The older generation holds on to tradition, while the younger generation demands change through innovation and technology. The former, feels that the older generation is inflexible. The older generation on the other hand, feel sidelined by the innovation of the younger generation.

Mustafa, who is a passionate and academically-gifted fourth-year IT student, develops a groundbreaking telemedicine app. This innovation gets applauded by Sultan. However, Mustafa's past social media posts criticising the government emerge.

Sultan is fearful of the youth. He orders Mustafa's execution. This leads to a digital uprising against the tyranny, led by Anifa Imana. Anifa, together with the youth of Royal Velvet Kingdom, use social media and artificial intelligence to fight the tyranny.

The protests become so intense that government institutions are destroyed and the kingdom is in chaos. Sultan's son Xavier cannot get an ambulance to take him to the hospital.

In the end, the Sultan gives in to the demands of the youth. He seeks their voice and opinion in running his administration. Sultan proclaims "Never again shall we dance to the echoes of war". The youth respond "The war is over". This signals the start of a new chapter in the kingdom where the voices of the youth are heard and respected.

Characters

• Sultan- Royal ruler of the Royal Velvet Emirates
• Mustafa- innovative IT student
• Anifa Imana- personification of artificial intelligence, embodying both human memory and machine logic
• Imam- Religious leader
• Mama Anifa- Mother to Anifa Imana

Police

• Xavier- Sultan's son

Controversy

On March 29 2025, the play was removed from the Western Regional winners' gala. While no official communication was given, the Butere Girls school administration was ordered to send its drama students home.

On April, 3 2025, the High Court of Kenya however, overturned this decision. It ordered that the 50 drama students who were already on holiday be recalled and participate in the National Drama Festivals, which were to be held from April 7, 2025 in Nakuru.

On April 9, 2025, a day before the Butere Girls performed the play, the car of the play's writer, Malala, was surrounded by police officers. He was stopped from accessing the venue where the students would rehearse the play. Later in the night, police officers lobbed teargas cannisters to disperse journalists who were at the venue. On the same day, Malala alleged that he had been arrested for writing the play. He posted a video on his social media. Malala's lawyer, Advocate Ndegwa Njiru, confirmed that Malala was being held at Eldama Ravine Police Station.

On April 10, 2025, the day that the Butere Girls were supposed to perform, the drama festival organisers set new rules that the performances would not be captured on camera. Journalists and the public audience were also barred from accessing the venue of the performances at Kirobon Girls High School. This is despite that the festival was being filmed since it started and live streamed on the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development.

On the same day, the Butere Girls students refused to perform. They alleged that the necessary sound equipment and stage decor for the performance were not provided.Instead, they sang the national anthem and left the stage.

As the girls were leaving the Kirobon Girls High School, they were escorted by the public. The police teargassed the crowd.The crowd was chanting "Ruto Must Go".

On the same day, Cleophas Malala was released from Eldama Ravine Police Station where he had been held overnight.

The Education Cabinet Secretary Migos Ogamba released a statement that explained that by allowing Malala, a non-teacher, to direct the play, Butere Girls had contravened the rules and regulations of the Kenya National Drama Festival. He also mentioned that he was not aware of any violence meted against the students. The statement also claimed that the play's script had been altered at the regional levels.Ogamba explained that at the sub-county level, the adjudicators advised Malala to eliminate offensive elements in the script. At the county level, the changes had already been revised and approved. However, at the regional stage, it was altered again and included offensive content. He also explained that even though the play was selected to move to the national level, the Butere Girls' Board of Management decided to withdraw it. They were concerned that the modified script would bring embarrassment to the school. He further explained that the script was not presented to the Executive Secretary by the Regional Secretary and as a result was excluded from the national performance schedule.

The school principal of Butere Girls issued a show cause letter to a teacher over allegations of altering the script. In the letter which was dated March 25,2025, the principal wrote that the teacher had deviated from the approved script during the County Level Festival held at Bulimbo Girls High School on March 18,2025. Malala however, denied the claims that the script was altered.

Kenyans on social media criticized the government and president William Ruto's administration for these actions.

On April 13, Ruto "stressed the importance of instilling good morals in children and emphasized that minors must grow up in an environment that promotes strong values."

Critical Reception

Vincent Obadha of Citizen drew parallels between the play and Kenya writing "Although it is set far away from Kenya, it resonates very closely with the aspirations of the youth today, popularly referred to as the Gen Z, who aspire to take their future into their own hands to redirect the ship of their lives safely across the ocean and into harbor as seen through their lenses'. Rene Otinga of Kenyans.co.ke writes "though fictitious, the themes and dialogues in the play hit close to home, drawing strong parallels to Kenya's own political and social dynamics".

Felix Kipkemoi of The Star wrote that the play "challenges viewers to consider the true cost of generational silence, the price of progress, and the humanity hidden within code and culture alike."

Stephen Letoo of Citizen writes that the play "boldly exposes bad governance, blatant disregard for the law, rampant abuse of human rights, and a shocking neglect of the youth's voice."

Nancy Odindo of TUKo wrote "the play dramatises the frustrations of Gen Z and calls for President William Ruto's resignation, citing unfulfilled promises and growing public discontent".