None of the cast of the Butere Girls High School play Echoes of War had been born in the era of presidents Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi.

They may also be unaware that their play bears an uncanny resemblance to the fate that befell a play by Kenya’s most famous author and playwright Ngugi wa Thiong’o.

Echoes of War is just a students’ entry in the National Schools Drama Festival, but it has evoked deep historical and political reflections, especially after the State initially blocked it from being staged.

The students refused to perform their play when they discovered that their audience consisted of police officers and government officials, not their fellow students. The subsequent uproar and debate dragged in President William Ruto, with accusations that such actions taint his leadership.

The Butere Girls play has resurrected political ghosts of the past associated with repression during the Kanu regime that suppressed freedom of expression.

It took a protracted “second liberation struggle”, the return of multipartyism and the birth of a new Constitution for freedoms to be restored. Butere students were in this “natural” element when they took to the stage.

Ngugi’s play Ngaahika Ndenda (I Will Marry When I Want), written in collaboration with the late Ngugi wa Mirii, was staged 47 years ago in sold-out shows before it was banned and the author detained.

Although performed nearly five decades ago, the play mirrors present-day Kenya. The reasons for banning Ngaahika Ndenda and Ngugi’s detention were never explained. But it must have been something to do with the writing of the play, and the potent political message it conveyed through its innocuous familial social script.

Ngugi was detained for one year at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison and his detention illuminated Kenya’s bad human rights record and acts of political repression.

Similarly, the reasons for the repressive acts committed by State agents against Butere High over Echoes of War have not been explained. However, one can hazard a guess it relates to the current political and socio-economic situation.

True, democracy may have taken root, but corruption, political deceit and constitutional manipulation thrives. The youth are restive and Butere High girls have carried the majority of citizens along with this receptive message.

They are continuing with the movement started when the youth forced Parliament and Ruto to withdraw the unpopular 2024 Finance Bill in protest against bad legislation amid a high cost of living, extreme poverty and unemployment.

In a massive show of people power, the youth are exercising their only weapon – the right to freedom of expression enshrined in the Constitution. The authorities had better listen and heed the warning delivered in Echoes of War.

Gen Z has taken public opposition and anger to a critical level. They have exposed the vast credibility gap between the ruling elite and the populace. Their slogan “Ruto Must Go” is simple, direct, and historic. It can also be ominous.

The slogan’s origins climaxed during the “second liberation struggle” when chants of “Moi Must Go” rent the air against repression and authoritarianism

Long before Ruto got entangled with pro-democracy figures who have amalgamated into an amorphous establishment, he honed his political career under Moi’s tutelage – in both Youth for Kanu 92 and his Cabinet.

— The writer comments on national affairs; albertoleny@gmail.com