Former Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala, the screenwriter of the controversial ‘Echoes of War’ play, has sounded the alarm about missing Butere Girls’ students.
Speaking outside Eldama Ravine Police Station on Thursday, April 10, 2025, after a day of chaos at Melvin Jones International School in Nakuru, Malala claimed 15 students were missing.
“Our cast comprises 38 girls. We have received information that 15 girls are missing. We want to know where our girls are. Police should produce the girls,” he told reporters after his release.
Malala did not elaborate on the exact circumstances under which the 15 Butere Girls students went missing.
Drama at Melvin Jones
Earlier in the morning, Butere Girls’ bus was seen leaving Melvin Jones International School in Nakuru—the venue of this year’s Kenya Schools and Colleges National Drama and Music Festival—with students on board.
It’s not clear if the students went missing before, during, or after the drama that was witnessed at Melvin Jones.
Butere Girls students stormed out of the performance venue moments before their scheduled act. Many were in tears, shouting and demanding answers over what they termed as harassment, neglect, and intimidation by authorities.
According to the students, their decision was not sudden. They claimed they had endured a series of frustrations in the moments leading up to the performance. They said they were denied a proper stage setup with no sound system, no decor, and no support to help them deliver their play.
“We were harassed by the police. We went to the stage with nothing — no sound, no décor, nothing. So we sang the National Anthem and left,” one of the students said, visibly livid.
The situation grew more intense as students began demanding the whereabouts of their play director, Cleophas Malala, who they claimed had gone missing weeks before the national competition. The girls said they had not received proper guidance or rehearsal time without him.
“We want our director. We are not performing without our director,” several students shouted in unison.
“Where is Mr. Cleophas? We want him. We are not going back to Butere,” the students declared.
In a video shared online on Thursday, April 10, 2025, police are seen lobbing tear gas in the direction of the Butere Girls’ school bus as it was leaving Melvin Jones. Some students are seen covering their noses and eyes because of the impact of the tear gas.
Moments after the tear gas subsided, a number of police officers were seen leading the bus out of the venue.
Outside the school, lawyer Ken Echesa—representing former Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala, who wrote and directed ‘Echoes of War’ —addressed the media and condemned state intimidation.
“We are here as Kenyans to make a statement that these police officers can teargas us, they can kill some of us, but they will not kill everyone. One of these fine days, the young people of this nation will arise against oppression,” Echesa declared.
Echesa further claimed that the Butere Girls’ students were forced to perform under severely compromised conditions.
“They are forcing those girls to go on stage without their costumes, without their decors, without the sound system. Lights have been switched off in the main hall so that girls cannot act in peace. They want them to act in 10 minutes instead of 25 minutes and leave for Butere. This is the kind of oppression that we must stand and say no,” he lamented.
Malala’s arrest
Malala, the writer of the play, was whisked to the Central police station in Nakuru at around midnight Wednesday.
The lawyer revealed that Malala, who was arrested on Wednesday under murky circumstances while seeking to prepare Butere Girls students for the performance, had been moved to Eldama Ravine—about 63 kilometers away—in what Echesa described as a calculated attempt to frustrate and isolate the production team.
“Cleophas Malala—I spoke to him last night, but then they took his phone… This morning I again spoke to him through my own means, and he has been moved to Eldama Ravine. He is not in Nakuru,” Echesa said.
“Their strategy is simple—move him across police stations, let the girls perform under very satanic circumstances, and get the girls to leave and release Malala at 2 p.m.,” he added.
Speaking after his release, Malala also condemned police officers who resorted to firing tear gas canisters at students on Wednesday night at Kirobon Girls High School in Nakuru.
“The officers should stop using excessive force on our students. They are patriotic and have done no wrong,” he said.
Martin Oduor
The alchemist of literary works – a master wordsmith with a proven record of transforming the raw materials of language into a rich tapestry of emotion, thought, and imagination.
View all posts by Martin Oduor