‘It Is Dishonest!’ – Malala Speaks On ‘Echoes of War’ Script Controversy
Cleophas Malala, a politician and playwright, has denied altering the screenplay for the play Echoes of War.
Butere Girls High School was supposed to perform the piece at last week’s Kenya National Drama Festivals.
Malala described the claims as insincere in an appearance with Citizen TV on Sunday night.
The former senator stated that the play had passed through multiple levels of approval, including sub-county, county, and regional competitions, without issue.
“The script was vetted and approved by adjudicators appointed by the Ministry of Education at every stage,” Malala said.
“It is dishonest to claim the script was altered when it passed through multiple hands and was consistently praised.”
Cleophas Malala: I wrote this script and I made a commitment even to the cast that I am going to give them a full script, and we will do very minimal changes. We had 9 adjudicators appointed by the Ministry of Education, they gave it a green light and said this was a wonderful… pic.twitter.com/2MtKoav59P
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) April 13, 2025
Malala revealed that Echoes of War was inspired by the Gen-Z-led anti-tax protests that occurred in June 2024.
He underlined that his artistic work is motivated by sociological events rather than political reasons.
“I began conceptualizing the play right after the Gen Z demonstrations,” he said.
“I don’t write based on my personal views or to push political agendas. My plays are a reflection of the issues affecting our society.”
Addressing specific charges of script tampering, Malala stated that any minor modifications were done based on adjudicator recommendations and were intended to improve clarity for student performers.
“I committed to giving the cast a complete script with minimal adjustments,” he said.
“We had nine Ministry-appointed adjudicators who approved it as a strong script. So, at what point did they begin seeing a problem?”
Cleophas Malala: I am a playwright. Before I became a politician, I was a playwright. I started writing plays 25 years ago. This Echoes of War is my 82nd play to do. From this perspective, I am an artist, a playwright and a director. We are going to perform the play using an… pic.twitter.com/fLMtq1PDRl
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) April 13, 2025
Malala also stated that his legal team is working to obtain compensation for the students involved, as well as to have the play performed in front of a live audience to provide the cast with closure.
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“We want the girls to perform Echoes of War—to any audience,” he said. “They deserve that opportunity after all they’ve been through.”
He also criticized the Ministry of Education for claiming that involving non-teachers in co-curricular training, such as acting, violates the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Act of 2018.
Malala believes that such a position undermines the role of experts in the creative business.
“Most people in the arts are not teachers,” he said. “It’s unrealistic for the Ministry to expect every professional involved in training students in drama to be a registered teacher. That approach stifles creativity and talent development.”
‘It Is Dishonest!’ – Malala Speaks On ‘Echoes of War’ Script Controversy
