Gachagua Dares Riara Girls To Perform Impressive Play In Front Of Raila

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Friday, June 2 recognised Riara Springs Girls High School over their play dubbed 'The Ayes Have It' which was touted as the best play of the day.

Speaking during the Kenya National Drama Festival State Concert at State House, Nairobi, Gachagua hailed the girls' school for the play which he termed as a reality check.

In a well-calculated attack against the Azimio la Umoja coalition, the second-in-command reminded the audience to stop living in the past and accept the present and tell the truth as it is.

Gachagua went ahead to dare the students to perform the same play in front of the Azimio leaders, including former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, as a way of reminding them that they should accept that President William Ruto defeated them in the 2022 general elections.

President William Ruto, DP Rigathi Gachagua and Education CS Ezekiel Machogu enjoy performances at the National Drama Festivals State Concert at State House, Nairobi on June 2, 2023. /PCS

"The play of the day, the 'ayes have it', was a masterpiece. People must stop living in denial and be like Rigathi Gachagua the truthful man.

"That play is a must for the Azimio brigade. You need to perform that play to them so that they live with the reality that the elections are over and William Ruto is the president of the Republic of Kenya," he addressed.

Gachagua further instructed event organisers not to edit the content of the school plays and instead churn out plays that give an honest opinion of the Kenya Kwanza government, faulting the omission of some plays during the national festivals at Shimo la Tewa secondary school in Mombasa on April 27, 2023, which were critical to the current government.

The Deputy President acknowledged instances whereby drama festival organisers had the habit of editing some performances and prevent them from reaching State House in fear of repercussions.

"What he needs are people who have no malice, like these young people, who can do an audit on his performance so far and come up with productions that will help him become a better leader because he is not an angel.

"The man who occupies State House today is a man who wants to be enriched in his thinking. He wants people to give an honest opinion of his performance because that will help him become a better leader," Gachagua added. 

Such productions, Gachagua noted, are social interveners as they help shape the way people think, making reference to how productions in Drama Festivals helped the country to deal with the HIV/AIDS pandemic when it was first discovered in Kenya. 

The DP urged the youth to keep up content production as such are social interventions that help the country. 

The play also touched President Ruto, who was in attendance and confessed to having shed some tears while watching them on stage.

He also felt that he was triggered, alleging that the girls did not mince the content in their performance, though he commended it for showing international standards to the point of being possibly featured through social media platforms.

“Didn’t Riara really go out of their way with their 'ayes have it', you guys are awesome and amazing. When I watched this, I shed some tears because, at some point, I thought that those girls were so mean. I was wondering surely how can these girls be so brutal.

“But it speaks to what society is and how we can bring it out using this creative space. I am sure our friends in Google, Facebook, and YouTube agree with me that the content was international,” Ruto noted.

Riara Girls' play was themed around body shaming and was feted as the best play during the 61st edition of the Kenya National Drama and Film Festival a month ago.