Butere Girls’ play caused a stir at the Kenya Drama festivals, attracting attention from the whole country. President Trump’s handling of tariffs continued to attract criticism, and Tanzania’s main opposition candidate is arrested.
It happened in Kenya: A controversial high school play
There was drama at the Kenya Secondary Schools Drama Festivals held last week in Nakuru. Butere Girls High School’s drama team was barred from performing their play, known as Echoes of War, at the event. The play documented the events of the youth-led protests that took place last year and the anti-government resistance that arose with them. It paints a picture of a fictional kingdom where the youth have lost faith in their government.
The play had been ‘banned’ from the festivals before a high court decision ordered that the festival organizers facilitate the play’s performance nonetheless.
As news of the play’s suspension broke, social media came alive with people condemning the government’s heavy-handedness in repressing criticism—even that from innocent high school students.
I mean, how does a whole President beef with teenage girls?
As if that was not enough, the police were on hand to disperse journalists and a crowd that had shown up to watch the now infamous play. Several people were injured as police hurled tear gas canisters indiscriminately.
The irony? The attempt to silence the play is what gave it attention. Very few people in the general public would have cared to go to the drama festivals to watch it in the first place. And even if they did, they wouldn’t think much of it. Recounting the events of anti-government protests and condemning the regime’s impunity has become the norm (as it should be), not the exception.
Abductions and kidnappings have proven that attempting to silence a critic only amplifies their voice.
Nonetheless, the play also draws questions on the place of indulgence of politics in education. The script for the play was written and directed by Cleophas Malala, a drama teacher turned national politician. Malala was once part of Ruto’s government and was the Secretary General of the UDA party before he was ousted in 2024 at the height of the anti-government protests.
Malala was accused of working against Ruto by undermining the formation of a broad-based government between UDA and ODM, the country’s main opposition outfit.
Malala has been on an offensive against President Ruto, teaming with the supposed ‘enemies’ of the president, such as former deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and the TransNzoia governor, George Natembeya.
For those in government, at least, the play was also a political statement indirectly aimed by Malala at the regime. The Education CS, Julius Migos, seemed to be of that opinion, stating that “We cannot allow people to weaponise school children against authority. Let political wars be fought by politicians outside learning environments.”
According to the CS, adjudicators had advised that some of the ‘offensive messages’ be omitted from the script when the play was first performed at the sub-county level. The play passed at the county level with no issue, but more ‘offensive themes’ were supposedly added in at the regional level of the festivals.
The school’s Board of Management therefore sought to withdraw the play from the festivals, citing the overwhelming changes made to the script which it stated, were not permitted by the law. The play was, therefore, not presented for performance at the national level.
The students were instructed to go home for the holidays but were recalled to perform the play after the High Court decision instructing the play’s performance. Nonetheless, Malala was barred from accessing the premises or engaging with and directing rehearsals for the play. The students refused to perform the play, but instead, in what many regarded as an act of sheer bravery, they took to the stage to condemn the repressive acts of the government and demand the release of their director.
The school has threatened disciplinary action against the school’s drama teacher for presenting an ‘altered version of the play’ at the national level.
This was not Malala’s first controversially politicized play at the school’s drama festivals. In 2013, Malala wrote and directed a play with Butere Girls known as Shackles of Doom, a play that sought to highlight the country’s complex system of inequality. The play’s controversy is what first thrust him into national relevance. Even back then, Malala was accused of using the play for his own political gains.
So, were the students wrongfully barred from performing the play? Or was the play politicized and used as an avenue to score political points?
Echoes at war
ODM’s Secretary General Edwin Sifuna openly criticized the President for his handling of the Butere Girls incident. Sifuna called on him to admonish those close to him who have mishandled the incident, stating that there are people in his government who keep making mistakes which have caused Ruto’s regime to become more unpopular.
He was speaking at the burial of George Oduor in Siaya County on Saturday, April 12. Oduor was a long-standing bodyguard to Raila Odinga. President Ruto was also present at the funeral.
And when it was his turn to speak, the President didn’t mince his words.
The president admonished Sifuna, telling him to watch his words and implored him to ‘kuja polepole’ (come slowly). The president also reminded Sifuna that he was a founding member of ODM and he could facilitate a move to ‘discipline Sifuna’, should his behaviour get out of hand.
The message must have been clear to Sifuna and everyone else present: tow the line or face the consequences. Interestingly, Ruto’s UDA party and ODM are in opposition on paper, but the two seem to be interlinked with each other. This has become especially evident after Ruto and Raila signed an MoU, officially creating a coalition of sorts between them through a broad-based government.
To understand the complicated relationship between the two leaders, watch my video on Raila’s AUC bid linked below
Ruto’s statements on his affiliation with ODM seem to cement claims made by some ODM leaders that Ruto will dissolve the UDA party into the ODM party and use it to seek re-election in 2027. The claims were made by outspoken ODM member and Kileleshwa Ward MCA Robert Alai on X.
Global events: Trump’s controversial tariff reforms
Not more than a week after announcing a sweeping array of global tariffs against most countries, President Trump decided to walk back, albeit slightly, from his decision, putting in place a 90-day pause on most tariffs. According to Trump, he was concerned that the people were getting ‘a little afraid’. Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the president’s decision was a ‘strategic move’ – pointing out that Trump had supposedly pushed China to ‘a bad position’ to which they had responded.
A strategic move indeed! That is if you count the trillions lost on US stocks when the tariffs first came into force. The market did bounce back immediately after the tariffs were paused, and investors who bought stock at the time when the market was low made money. Actually, speaking of which….
Massive allegations are now being levelled against Trump for supposed market manipulation in the wake of his so-called ‘Liberation Day’ reforms.
On April 9, 2025, at 9:37 am, Trump shared this on his Truth Social platform;
A few hours later, Trump was at the White House, announcing a pause to tariffs and causing the markets to soar back up again. The market made up US$ 4 Trillion (about 70%) of the value it had lost when the tariffs were introduced.
Democrat representatives in Congress had reason to believe that Trump’s move had a sinister motive behind it. They went hard on that as they grilled Trade Representative Jameson Greer on Capitol Hill shortly after the tariffs were lifted.
It does not help that Trump was unclear on his rationale and reasoning for suddenly lifting the tariffs. He said that he had been ‘considering it for some time,’ but the decision ‘only came up early that morning’.
Trump’s use of the DJT initials in his message on Truth Social may be even more confusing. Normally, the initials are affiliated with his social media company, which owns Truth Social. The company is publicly listed on the stock exchange.
By urging his followers to ‘buy’, it is unclear whether he was urging them to buy Truth Media stock or other general stock within the market. Anyways, those who listened to his advice reaped big. And so did Trump (or at least his companies). Truth Social’s stock was up 22% as the market closed that day, which was more than double the rate experienced by the broader market.
Mark you, that’s not the only stock with Trump’s name on it. Trump’s crypto meme coin $TRUMP, which was introduced shortly before his inauguration, soared to a market valuation of US$ 8 Billion almost instananeously. His brand’s indulgence into crypto could taint his reputation as the market is prone to high levels of speculation and fraud, such as pump and dump schemes.
Trump seems to reel in the fact that he can manipulate not just US markets but global markets as he pleases. But that is a thin line to cross. His actions might make the US markets, in particular, too volatile, making the country hard to trade with, which could weaken the US economy and hand an advantage to other powers such as China.
But that seems to be by design. His administration has been more accommodative of crypto and has even moved to ease and, at times, even derail policies and regulations against it.
Yet that is not even the most ridiculous thing the Trump administration has done this week;
Trump also signed an executive order on water pressure to ‘restore shower freedom’ and end the ‘Obama-Biden war on water pressure’.
He has long complained about the inadequate water pressure in American toilets, showers and sinks, which he blames on water conservation laws enacted in the Obama and Biden administrations.
Trump’s team, in a White House statement, called the move a declaration of ‘Freedom on US showers’ and an end to ‘unnecessary regulations’ against the American people.
Yeah, you heard that right. Trump is done with ‘freeing’ the markets. Now he has got to ‘free’ the showers and the toilets too. What a time to be alive!
Elsewhere in the region: Tanzania’s opposition faces a mountain to climb
Tanzania’s main opposition party, Chadema, has been barred from participating in the country’s General elections, which are set to be held in October of this year. According to the country’s electoral commission, the party failed to submit a code of conduct document, which was deemed necessary for it to qualify to vie in the elections. The party was also barred from participating in any by-elections until 2030.
This announcement follows the arrest of Chadema’s leader, Tundu Lissu, on Wednesday on charges of treason. Lissu has been accused of inciting the general public against participating in the elections during his rallies across the country.
Lissu has been leading the opposition in calling for electoral reforms through the campaign slogan #NoReformsNoElections. He has continually stated that the country cannot hold free and fair elections within six months with the current structure and organization of the electoral commission. Top on the list of his demands for reforms is the reconstitution of the electoral commission, which Lissu insists should not be made up of appointees made by or affiliated to President Suluhu.
As the date of the elections draws closer, questions around the election’s fairness and credibility continue to mount, especially given the ruling government’s history of oppressing any opposition to its rule.
Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), the country’s ruling party, has been in power since 1977. President Samia Suluhu Hassan took over in 2020 following the death of President Magufuli. She was initially praised for her progressive reforms towards creating a democratic environment in the country. However, much like her predecessor, her benign leadership style didn’t last long.
Tundu Lissu has been a long-standing opposition figure in Tanzania’s political space. He has been arrested several times in the past for his outspokenness against the ruling political regime. In fact, Lissu has dealt with a lot more than mere arrests.
In 2017, he narrowly survived an assassination attempt after his vehicle was shot at multiple times. He was forced into exile in Belgium. He was back in the country to vie in the 2020 elections, which he lost to the incumbent Magufuli. According to Lissu, the elections were marred with irregularities. He did not stick around for long after that.
Lissu fully returned in 2023, following reforms introduced by President Suluhu aimed at creating greater opposition freedom.
With Chadema out of the picture, CCM, led by Suluhu, would coast to an easy victory in October.
Tanzania has one of Africa’s most interesting political systems. The country is not exactly run as a dictatorship, but there is definitely a closed power system built around the country’s main political outfit, CCM.
As stated before, CCM was formed in 1977 following the merger of TANU and the Afro-Shirazi party, the only operating parties in mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar, respectively. It remained the sole political party up until 1995, when the first multiparty elections were held in the country. CCM has won every election since with a clear majority, and in the recent 2020 elections, Magufuli won with an overwhelming 84% of the vote. The party also secured 350 of the 393 seats in the National Assembly.
Nonetheless, in the lead-up to the elections, Magufuli’s tenure was marked with a gross regression from democracy, highlighted by the abduction and persecution of political opponents.
As the elections draw closer, all eyes will be on Suluhu to see if she makes good on her promises for democratic reform in the country. Because at the moment, that seems far from likely.
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