Commercial sex workers flock Kericho town

Kericho town has in the past one week seen an influx of commercial sex workers who have streamed into the South Rift area with hope of harvesting big from tea farmers’ bonuses.

The twilight girls are said to be targeting men who have just gotten huge sums of money from the recently paid out tea bonuses.

The rush for gold is dire and the competition so stiff that some commercial sex workers are openly propositioning potential clients in broad daylight. The prostitutes no longer wait for dusk to fall, instead they daringly solicit for sex as early as before noon.

“You’d easily find them walking around during the day. They visit room after room in search of their prey,” said Rose Anyango, a tailor in the semi-urban area.

Joseph Langat, a tea farmer in Kericho, attributes the rise in prostitutes’ numbers in the area to the recently disbursed tea bonuses.

“These commercial sex workers are out to fleece men who have been paid their dues,” he said.

Samuel Nyakundi, a Kericho resident, concurs with Langat, and adds that some cunning women are just out to make easy money from the farmers’ sweat.

“There are some women who are just lazy; they don’t want to work hard. Theirs is just to wait and use their bodies to extract money from farmers,” he told.

One Kericho woman complained since bonuses were issued, she hardly sees her husband at home.

Kericho Police County Commander, Rose Muchuma, has however warned potential targets against the vice and reminded the farmers to be more watchful as the commercial sex workers’ intention is to steal their tea bonuses.

“I am aware there are commercial sex workers who have started flocking into bars and lodgings to steal from unsuspecting men. I would ask these men who frequent such places to be more careful with their money,” she said.

Nevertheless, she expects more prostitutes from different parts of the country to make their way to Kericho.

The old men have, however, not learnt from their repeated slip-up as they could be seen day and night heading to lodges and hotels with brown envelopes to buy ‘the forbidden fruit’.