Amnesty condemns police violence in Butere Girls play saga

Amnesty International Kenya has condemned police officer’s conduct in dispersing students and members of the public during a staging of the ‘Echoes of War’ play by Butere Girls High School students.

Police on Wednesday evening lobbed tear gas canisters at students and journalists at Kirobon Girls High School in Nakuru where the playwright, former Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala, went for a rehearsal ahead of Thursday’s National Drama Festival.

Come Thursday, officers barred journalists and the public from accessing Kirobon Girls, and the students declined to perform the play.

In a statement later in the day, Irungu Houghton, Amnesty International Kenya’s Director said the officer’s conduct was unlawful and points to “a worrying pattern of state-sponsored repression of free expression, press freedom, and the right to associate.”

The rights organisation criticised the police for abusing their authority and castigated President William Ruto’s government for censorship.

“By targeting a school play performed by children, the state is criminalizing creativity and turning cultural spaces into zones of fear and censorship,” Amnesty said.

“This brazen attack undermines children’s right to participate in society through art—a right enshrined in both Kenyan law and international human rights standards.”

The NGO called for an end to the “harassment, intimidation, and censorship” directed at the students, teachers, and creatives behind the play, and urged the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) to probe the police officers’ conduct.

“The freedom of children to explore social realities through art must not be up for negotiation. The Children Act 2022 and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child affirm the right of every child to freely express themselves—including through artistic performance,” Houghton added.

‘Echoes of War’ highlights issues of Kenya’s governance and the 2024 youth-led anti-government protests and was disqualified during the Western Region Drama Festivals under unclear circumstances.

A subsequent High Court ruling overturned that decision, reinstating the play and ordering its inclusion in the national line-up.