Former Kakamega senator Cleophas Malala was Wednesday arrested and driven sway from a school he intended to address a group of students planning to stage a controversial play in Nakuru.
A school play titled “Echoes of War” by Butere Girls High School in Kakamega County has sparked a dramatic standoff in Rongai, Nakuru County.
This came on the eve of its scheduled performance at the Kenya National Drama Festivals.
Police on Wednesday evening surrounded a vehicle belonging to Malala the play’s writer and former Kakamega Senator in an apparent attempt to prevent him from accessing Kirobon Girls High School.
He was later bundled into a police car and driven away.
This followed a storm at the entrance pitting police and the former senator.
Malala had reportedly intended to oversee final rehearsals for the play, which is scheduled to be performed Thursday morning at Lions Primary School, one of the venues for the ongoing 63rd edition of the Kenya National Drama Festivals.
Malala, who is also the ousted UDA Secretary General, has a background in theatre and school drama.
However, Echoes of War has courted controversy due to its alleged criticism of the government.
The play 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 lineup.
Following the court order, students who had already left for the April holidays were recalled to resume rehearsals. However, it remains unclear whether those rehearsals took place today as planned.
As of 5 p.m., Malala claimed that police had barricaded his vehicle and were threatening to arrest him.
At 9 pm Thursday, police lobbed teargas canisters to disperse journalists who had camped outside the school to cover the standoff.
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua criticized the move to manhandle Malala.
He said 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.”
“The satirical play – Echoes of War – that strongly captures the lying culture of this administration, is innocent in itself in the literary universe, just to explain to those who feel threatened,” he said in a post on his social media accounts.
In any case, he said, the detectives will harass the messager, but the message remains; this action only creates more awareness of the literary piece and the message.
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