Ogamba explains Butere Girls drama festival dispute, warns principals against involving non-teachers

The Ministry of Education has warned school principals against involving non-teachers in directing co-curricular activities, citing breaches of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) regulations.

This comes in the wake of a controversial drama script involving Butere Girls High School’s play, Echoes of War, written by former Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala.

According to Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, Malala was barred from training Butere Girls for the play since the rules of the Kenya National Drama and Film Festival (KNDFF) do not allow a non-teacher to direct a school drama item.

In a statement on Thursday, Ogamba reiterated that only registered teachers are permitted to train and direct students in co-curricular activities.

“The Ministry wishes to inform principals who invite non-teachers to their schools to train learners in co-curricular activities that they are in contravention of the TSC regulations as well as the rules and regulations for the Kenya National Drama and Film Festival,” Ogamba said.

“We cannot allow people to weaponise schoolchildren against authority. Let political wars be fought by politicians outside of learning environments.”

The play has stirred uproar due to its themes encouraging Gen Z to rise against what the script describes as oppression through government policies.

According to the Ministry, the play initially faced scrutiny at the sub-county level, where adjudicators advised the scriptwriter to remove some offensive messages.

He noted that at the county level, the play did not carry any negative sentiments and was approved to proceed to the regional level. At the regional level, however, the script was significantly altered to include more controversial themes.

Upon realising the changes, Ogamba said the school’s Board of Management expressed concern over the potential embarrassment the alterations could cause the school. Consequently, he said, they sought to withdraw the play from the competition.

The CS emphasised that Regulation 19.2 of the Kenya Schools and Colleges National Drama and Film Festival Rules and Regulations 2025 highlights that alterations to a script should be minimal.

Additionally, he said the presentation of a new and unadjudicated script at a higher level would lead to disqualification.

“The school, therefore, felt that the script had been significantly altered and could not be presented at the National level,” he said.

On March 28, 2025, during a meeting at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, Ogamba said the Regional Secretary failed to present the play to the Executive Secretary, resulting in its exclusion from the national performance schedule. In response, the school instructed the affected students to return home for the holidays.

“As per procedure, when a script is not presented to the Executive Secretary, it is not scheduled to perform at the national level. As a result, the school asked the affected learners to go home for the April holidays,” he said.

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• Echoes of War
• Ogamba explains Butere Girls drama festival dispute
• warns principals against involving non-teachers

However, two courts, one in Kakamega and another in Kisii, ordered that Echoes of War be presented at the national level. Complying with the court’s directive, Ogamba said the Principal Secretary of the State Department for Basic Education announced on April 7, 2025, that Butere Girls would indeed present the play at the National Drama Festival.

He noted that the students were instructed to report back to Kirobon Girls in Nakuru by 3 pm on Wednesday, April 9, in preparation for the performance scheduled for 8 am the following day.

However, he said, tensions escalated on the evening of April 9, 2025, when Malala, the author of the script, attempted to force his way into Kirobon Girls to train the students.

Security personnel barred his entry, citing the KNDFF regulations, which explicitly state that only registered teachers or lecturers may direct or train students for the festival.

Section 9.0, note C, of the festival’s rules specifies that trainers must be either registered teachers with the TSC or lecturers employed by recognised post-secondary institutions. By attempting to train the students, Ogamba said Malala was in violation of these rules.

Additionally, regulation (x) of the drama and festival event regulations bans “Hate statements targeting communities, personalities, gender both on stage and out of stage and on social media is a misconduct”.

He further cited the TSC circular No. 14, issued on June 13, 2018, which stipulates that only registered teachers may be involved in teaching, managing, coaching or supervising students in co-curricular activities.

Additionally, the TSC Code of Conduct and Ethics 2015 emphasises the duty of teachers to safeguard students and ensure that only authorised individuals interact with them in educational contexts. Section 9 of the Code further clarifies that teachers are responsible for fairly and professionally assessing and training learners.

Despite the Ministry’s compliance with the court’s order to allow Butere Girls to perform, Ogamba reiterated that the students declined to take the stage on April 10, citing Malala’s absence. The Ministry stressed that it is committed to promoting talent through co-curricular activities but reiterated that all activities must adhere to the established regulations.

“From the foregoing, it is clear that Malala shouldn’t have been allowed to direct the play, a role that should have been left to the teachers as per the rules and regulations,” he said.

“The Ministry of Education is fully committed to promoting talents among our learners through all forms of co-curricular activities available in our school system. However, school principals are advised to stick to the rules and regulations governing the co-curricular activities.”