KANU Chairman and former Baringo Senator Gideon Moi has condemned the events that led to the arrest of former Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala as a disturbing display of state repression.
In a statement on Thursday, April 10, Moi described the incident as an attempt by security agencies to obstruct the staging of the play, Echoes of War, by Butere Girls High School.
"Last night, Kenya witnessed yet another disturbing display of state repression as security agencies attempted to obstruct the staging of Echoes of War by Butere Girls High School today at the 2025 National Drama and Film Festival through violent intimidation of the playwright, Hon. Cleophas Malala, in Rongai, Nakuru County,” he said.
Moi lauded the play as a thoughtful satire on the collapse of social services, further highlighting the history of censorship in Kenya’s school drama scene.
He recalled the infamous 2013 ban of Shackles of Doom, also scripted by Malala and performed by Butere Girls High School.
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"A pure form of artistic expression, the play is 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.
"It must not be lost on Kenyans that this play was banned from proceeding to the national levels and it took judicial intervention to ensure its performance. This act of censorship evokes the 2013 ban of ‘Shackles of Doom, ’ also staged by the same institution and scripted by Hon. Malala," he added.
Moi emphasized that the students involved in the play should be seen not as enemies but as citizens using art to voice their truths.
“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,” he concluded.
Similarly, former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua condemned the arrest of Malala over the play, describing it as an attack on artistic freedom.
In a statement on Wednesday, April 9, Gachagua took issue with the deployment of Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers to apprehend the former Senator.
"The use of the criminal justice system to suppress creativity and social audit has reached alarming proportions.
"It is a shame of unimaginable proportion that dozens of DCI detectives in five vehicles have been dispatched to arrest and intimidate Senator Cleophas Malala for writing a script that has won its way to the National Drama Festival in Nakuru,” he said.
Additionally, Gachagua defended the play, arguing that it poses no real threat, and should be viewed as a legitimate form of expression.
"The satirical play, Echoes of War, which strongly captures the lying culture of this administration, is innocent in itself in the literary universe, just to explain to those who feel threatened.
“In any case, the detectives will harass the messenger, but the message remains; this action only creates more awareness of the literary piece and the message,” he added.
