Students from Butere Girls High yesterday could not stage Echoes of War, a much-awaited play that many Kenyans had gathered at Melvin Jones Hall in Nakuru, the venue for the Kenya Secondary School Drama and Film Festival in Nakuru.

One of the students addressed the audience, which was made up of only festival organisers, police and government officials, with no students nor teachers from other schools, as is the tradition.

“We came here to stage our play to our fellow students and not to government officials. We don’t have props and as such the environment is not conducive for us as students to perform,” said the student, who broke down in tears as others joined in the wailing.

Signs were clear that the girls would not perform after the State set the stage for intimidation by deploying police to the venue. The play is a bold commentary on the tyranny of a regime that thrives on deceit. It largely mirrors the sentiments captured in the deadly Gen- Z protests in which brave young Kenyans rose up to speak truth to power demanding good governance, constitutionalism and the rule of law in exercise of the decree enshrined in Article 1 of the Constitution.

When Butere Girls took the stage, they sang the three stanzas of Kenya’s National Anthem, said a prayer and announced their boycott of the fete, citing unfavourable an unfriendly conditions.

The play is set in some imaginary Arabic Royalty adorned with diamonds and gold.

It is expansive and detailed. “This palace is vast enough to host you and the entire of your lineage”, boasts the Sultan as he welcomes a young innovator by the name Mustapha, who was picked for an award of excellence in the Sultanate.

But whilst the Sultan lives large and in the splendour and largesse of opulence, his subjects are reeling in abject poverty. Mustapha’s award is withdrawn as his social media account is found to have been a source of insurgence and civil disobedience demanding better accountability and service from the Sultan!

“May I remind you, all those who filled hatred, spite and divisions among the great people of this nation shall be hunted, arrested and dealt with,” fumes an angry Sultan upon being informed of Mustapha’s social media accounts.

He is ordered to face the guillotine for treason.

Any Kenyan who has monitored the events leading up to the Gen Z protests last year and the aftermath of State-sponsored abductions of young people opposed to the Kenya Kwanza administration can guess what the play seeks to portray. The voices of Butere Girls were gagged but their spirit will never be silenced.