{"id":113477,"date":"2025-04-11T09:04:27","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T09:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/04\/11\/fida-kenya-condemns-police-intimidation-of-butere-girls-over-echoes-of-war-performance\/"},"modified":"2025-04-11T09:04:27","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T09:04:27","slug":"fida-kenya-condemns-police-intimidation-of-butere-girls-over-echoes-of-war-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/fida-kenya-condemns-police-intimidation-of-butere-girls-over-echoes-of-war-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"FIDA-Kenya Condemns Police Intimidation of Butere Girls Over \u2018Echoes of War\u2019 Performance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nairobi, 11 April 2025<\/strong> \u2014 The Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya (FIDA-Kenya) has condemned what it terms as unlawful and unconstitutional actions by police against students from Butere Girls High School during their attempt to perform the play Echoes of War<\/em> at the Kenya National Drama and Film Festival in Nakuru County.<\/p>\n

Despite a High Court ruling upholding the students\u2019 right to perform, FIDA-Kenya says the learners were subjected to intimidation, harassment, and an orchestrated effort to sabotage their performance. <\/p>\n

The play, scripted by former Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala, had earlier been controversially disqualified at the Western Region Drama Festival, but the court later reinstated it, ordering its inclusion in the national event.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the students were barred from rehearsing, and on Thursday morning, they were forced to begin their performance earlier than scheduled. Upon entering the venue, they found it devoid of a public address system, audience, or costumes\u2014standard provisions at such festivals.<\/p>\n

Malala was later arrested but freed without charge in what he says is a violation of his constitutional rights.<\/p>\n

Refusing to perform under those conditions, the students peacefully exited the hall. However, outside the venue, police officers reportedly lobbed teargas at the girls as they were being interviewed by journalists, triggering panic and confusion. Some students fled in different directions and were briefly separated from their teachers and school bus.<\/p>\n

FIDA-Kenya says the treatment of the students amounts to a violation of multiple constitutional rights, including human dignity, freedom of expression, freedom of association and assembly, and children\u2019s rights as guaranteed under Articles 28, 33(1)(b), 36, 37, and 53 of the Constitution.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll students from Butere Girls who had been reported missing during the chaos have since been accounted for,\u201d said FIDA-Kenya. Former Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala had earlier raised alarm over missing students but later confirmed the girls were found safe, having scattered for safety during the teargas incident.<\/p>\n

The organisation has called on the National Police Service and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) to launch a swift investigation into the officers involved, take disciplinary action, and publish a report on the findings.<\/p>\n

FIDA-Kenya also appealed to the Ministry of Education to uphold the court ruling by ensuring Butere Girls High School is allowed to perform Echoes of War<\/em>, and urged the Ministry of Interior to reassure the public that children\u2019s rights will be protected and not violated with impunity.<\/p>\n

The organisation applauded the students for their courage in the face of intimidation and reaffirmed its commitment to protecting the rights and dignity of girls and women in Kenya.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nairobi, 11 April 2025 \u2014 The Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya (FIDA-Kenya) has condemned what it terms as unlawful and unconstitutional actions by police against students from Butere Girls High School during their attempt to perform the play Echoes of War at the Kenya National Drama and Film Festival in Nakuru County. Despite a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113477\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}