Following last week’s standoff at the National Drama Festivals in Nakuru—where students from Butere Girls High School were blocked from performing their play Echoes of War—former UDA Secretary General and playwright Cleophas Malala has shifted the spotlight to First Lady Rachel Ruto, questioning her silence over the controversy.
Speaking on Citizen TV on Sunday evening, Cleophas Malala criticised First Lady Rachel Ruto for her silence during the standoff in Nakuru, despite being an alumna of Butere Girls High School.
Malala also took aim at President William Ruto, accusing his administration of using police to intimidate attendees at the event. He described the First Lady’s silence amid the controversy as deeply concerning.
The politician cum playwright maintained that the force met on him because of the play was a form of dictatorship that the society should not accept.
''If I were in the government, I would ask William Ruto to be a father to these children. You cannot use force, dictatorship, and intimidation on our children. Before I talk to William Ruto, I would use Mama Rachel Ruto to step into this because she is an old girl, the patron of the alumni association of Butere Girls," Malala stated.
''If you cannot speak when your own school is being disadvantaged, intimidated, and teargassed, when will you speak, Mama Rachel Ruto? We need to hear your voice as a mother.''
Malala further criticised the state and its security agencies for referring to the students involved in the play as children, arguing that most were only a few years away from the legal voting age.
He termed the classification as a deliberate mischaracterisation, insisting that the themes explored in Echoes of War reflect issues well-known to the public, including the social and political ills affecting the country.
"I want to tell Murkomen these people you are calling children; they are seeing; they participate in the events of this country; they know what is going on. When you call them children and they are not supposed to know anything, that is a mistake. The cast that acted in Echoes of War in 2027, will they not be voters? Will you still call them children?'' he questioned.
Ordeal at the Hands of Officers
The vocal former Kakamega Senator revealed that after he was apprehended in Nakuru, he was taken to an unknown location in the bush and left alone for a better part of the night.
He revealed that the officers left him, leaving him terrified as he contemplated what had befallen him.
''It was quite a dramatic moment. They took me to some wilderness, and they stopped at around midnight. I was left in a Subaru alone, but the occupants had disappeared. It was quite torturous for me; I was scared," Malala stated.
