On Thursday morning, students from Butere Girls Secondary School were subjected to teargas after departing from Kirobon Girls High School in Nakuru, where the National Drama Festivals are being held.
While traveling on their school bus and accompanied by members of the public, the group was met with teargas from the police in an attempt to disperse them.
During this incident, both the public and students from other institutions chanted slogans such as “Ruto Must Go.”
The situation escalated after the Butere Girls students were unable to present their play, Echoes of War, which has sparked controversy due to its subject matter.
When they took the stage around 8 am on Thursday, their performance was abruptly halted as they were denied access to a public address system that had been utilized throughout the festival.
Instead of delivering their play, the students resorted to singing the National Anthem as they left the stage in tears.
Additionally, the students expressed their frustration over the lack of an audience for their performance, noting that they had not seen the play’s directors and had not trained for the past three weeks.
Echoes of War has garnered significant attention due to its focus on Kenya’s governance and the protests led by Gen Z that occurred in 2024.
The play faced disqualification during the Western Region Drama Festivals under ambiguous circumstances, but a subsequent ruling by the High Court reversed that decision, allowing the play to be reinstated and included in the national lineup.
