Malala is right to radicalise children against bad governance

Last week, Nakuru played host to this year’s drama festival. The usual norm and routine that comes with such festival was, however, disrupted. An unexpected layer of drama arrested the nation’s attention; but it was real and serious. The play ‘Echoes of war’ by Butere Girls High School was rudely disrupted.

Opinions continue to be shared with various contributors advancing arguments that align with their interests. For lawyers, opinion is predictably divided; with some supporting the ban while others criticising and condemning it. It is in fact a subject of litigation. For politicians the contours of division have predictably played out. The government-allied faction sees no wrong in the State’s response, while the opposing faction has sustained its condemnation. Members of the public have not been left out of the debate either.

Those opposed to the ban view it as a deliberate attempt to curtail freedoms of thought and expression. Those in support ground their justification on what they consider obvious constitutional and legal infraction. To them, allowing a non-teaching staff to assume the lead role in the ‘Echoes of war’ offended the law. It is even worse when the supposed lead is a prominent politician - Cleophas Malala . Mr Malala’s prominent role has been viewed as resulting in the politicisation of the play. The politicisation angle particularly yields two reasons for opposition; radicalisation and misuse of children for selfish political purposes.

Let’s start with radicalisation. The play is largely viewed as being critical of the government of the day. The play opponents argue that allowing it to proceed would be tantamount to inciting the students against the government. A fair argument can be made that the play has been inspired by the context. It is basically a mirror of what the society looks like. It is not a secret that the current administration faces credibility and governance challenges. There are numerous indicators to bear out the assertion; last year’s Gen Z protests, abductions, disappearances and killings, failure of public policy experiments especially in the education and health sectors, endless allegations of corruption. These are debilitating societal and governance ills that should be infinitely intolerable.

Any reasonable attempt to raise awareness against perpetuation of such ills is, or at least should be, welcome. Undoubtedly, radicalisation holds a negative connotation in the eyes of many. Hitherto, it has largely been associated with terrorism. But in the case of Malala’s play what is the radicalisation in favour of or against? Radicalisation for the advancement of terrorism purposes must be condemned because terrorism is evil. However, radicalisation against bad governance should be encouraged and supported. It is morally justifiable to be radicalised against bad governance.

The next argument is “misuse of children for selfish political ends”. An acknowledgement needs to be made that the consequences of bad governance spares no one. It is not entirely unreasonable to involve the young in the struggle. In fact, it is not entirely unprecedented. At the height of the civil rights struggle in the USA, the famous Children’s Crusade in 1963 onboarded high school students in the public protests. The fury that occasioned their mistreatment by the security agencies provided a catalytic effect to the quest for racial justice in Birmingham. Echoes of war should not have been banned.

Mr Ogutu is a political commentator