YouTube Video Recording of the Play 'Shackeles of Doom' Courtesy of WTV
There was a huge uproar in support of and keelhauling the 'controversial' play by Butere Girls high School. The period during which the issue came up is quite significant. It was the 'let us keep the peace and move on' period. A period when any utterances questioning, dissenting or raising concern about things going wrong was immediately categorized as hate speech and gagged. A period Gathara's World refers to as the return of the 'Republic of Fear'. What got me even more exasperated was the castigation of the Media house that first aired the story, a condemnation of both the school and the playwright, and the apparent uniformed support for the Kenya National Drama Festival's unprocedural, unconstitutional and in my opinion cowardly decision to ban the play on the basis that it would "put national cohesion and integration in danger."
Petition 192 of 2013
The Petition filed in the Constitutional and Human Rights Division of the High Court on 11 April, 2013 by well known (frowned upon) activist O. Omutata against the AG, The PS Ministry of Education, and the Principal of Butere Girls High School challenging the ban sought the following orders: a Mandatory Order to compel the Respondents to ensure that the School is allowed to stage the play in its original script pending the hearing and determination of the application and petition; an interim conservatory order suspending the Drama festivals until the Petition is heard and determined, a mandatory order stopping the respondents from gagging the freedom of expression and frustrating the artistic talents being nurtured by academic institutions etc.
A ruling of the petition delivered on 16 April, 2013 by Justice Majanja sheds light into why the protection of the freedom of Artistic Expression is important for a democratic society:
"Artistic expression is not merely intended to gratify the soul. It also stirs our conscience so that we can reflect on the difficult questions of the day. The political and social history of our nation is replete with instances where plays were banned for being seditious or subversive This is the country of Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Micere Mugo,Francis Imbuga, Okoth Obonyo and other great playwrights who through their writings contributed to the cause of freedom we now enjoy. Some plays were banned because they went against the grain of the accepted political thinking. Kenya has moved on and a ban, such as the one imposed by the Kenya National Drama Festival must be justified as it constitutes a limitation of the freedom of expression. I am not convinced that Kenya is such a weak democracy whose foundation cannot withstand a play by high school students."
The ruling however noted that the respondents had failed to appear in court and that the prayers sought were "too drastic and wide and will affect innocent parties..." The Learned Judge therefore declined to grant the prayers and instead gave an opportunity for the first respondent (AG) to address the Court on 17th April,2013 on an appropriate remedy before making the final order as it deems fit.
It will be interesting to see the kind of remedy that the AG will prescribe and whether the remedy will be sufficient if examined against this important freedom of artistic expression, the perception of a nation that seems to have been bullied into silence (including children), and the spirit and letter of the Constitution which envisages an enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedom in a democratic society that harnesses, grants space for and respects a 'market place of ideas and opinions', and where fundamental rights and freedoms are only limited if it is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society - not merely to address the self serving hysteria of a few.
My Take_
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