Police Attack Citizen TV Reporter, Journalists Filming Standoff With Malala
On Wednesday evening, police surrounded a vehicle owned by Malala — the playwright and former Kakamega Senator — seemingly to block him from entering Kirobon Girls High School.
Marvin Chege 
Police have reportedly lobbed teargas at journalists who were covering a developing story involving former Kakamega senator and United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Secretary-General, Cleophas Malala, who was earlier embroiled in a dramatic standoff in Rongai, Nakuru County.
On Wednesday evening, police surrounded a vehicle owned by Malala — the playwright and former Kakamega Senator — seemingly to block him from entering Kirobon Girls High School. Citizen TV reporter Maryann Nyambura was among journalists teargassed during the live 9 PM news broadcast. She was gasping for air while reporting live before fading away with a cloud of tear gas engulfing the scene.
Reports indicate that she was hit by a teargas canister. Later, she showcased a live bullet reportedly fired by police officers during the standoff.
In the ensuing standoff, six journalists were injured as Malala was blocked from accessing the students at the school. They include Nation Media Group's (NMG) Purity Kinuthia, Citizen TV Camerapersons Evans Asiba and Robert Maina, as well as their KTN counterparts Peter Kimani and Kennedy Gachuhi. They sustained injuries after police physically assaulted them.
Earlier, Malala was denied entry to Kirobon Girls High School, where students from Butere were spending the night ahead of their Thursday performance at the ongoing National Drama Festivals in Nakuru. The play, which the students are set to perform, focuses heavily on the Gen Z-led nationwide protests against the Finance Bill 2024 that took place last June.
Malala said he arrived at the school around 5:30 p.m. for rehearsals but was met with a heavy police presence at the gate. Armed officers blocked his vehicle and told him they had orders not to let him interact with the students.
“As the scriptwriter of the play, I came here to check on the girls during their final rehearsals, but I was not allowed inside the school. I have been told that some officers are also inside. They said the students should not rehearse. The officers want to arrest me without a court order, and they have blocked my vehicle from leaving,” he told the media.
Malala claimed the students were told their play would now be performed at 7 a.m. on Thursday, instead of the originally scheduled 10 a.m. slot.
He added that some cast members haven’t been able to reach the venue, and the earlier time could rob them of the chance to properly showcase their talents.
“I do not know what the government is afraid of, it’s just a play. The students are traumatised, and I don’t even know if they will be able to perform tomorrow. We are just here waiting. I wonder why they are politicising the whole thing. They should just follow the court order,” he said before his arrest.
The standoff and the arrest of Malala have since drawn the attention of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, who condemned the brazen act.
"The use of the criminal justice system to suppress creativity and social audit has reached alarming proportions. It is a shame of unimaginable proportion that dozens of DCI detectives in five vehicles have been dispatched to arrest and intimidate Senator Cleophas Malala for writing a script that has won its way to the National Drama festival in Nakuru," wrote Gachagua on his social media accounts.
"The satirical play - Echoes of War - that strongly captures the lying culture of this administration, is innocent in itself in the literary universe, just to explain to those who feel threatened. In any case, the detectives will harass the messenger, but the message remains; this action only creates more awareness of the literary piece and the message."
A live bullet and a teargas canister fired by police at journalists on April 9, 2025. /NTV.VIRAL TEA KE
Gachagua Reacts To Malala's Arrest
Butere Girls perform a play written by Cleophas Malalah during the Western Region edition of the annual Kenya Schools and Colleges Drama Festival last week. /EASTLEIGH VOICE
