It is the economy, stupid. It is costing an arm and a leg to eat, drink or drive, and now the men who pay for away matches have their nuts held in a vice grip. Pesa nane will no longer buy them bumpy rides from sex workers.
Twilight girls are, pardon the pun, feeling the heat, too, and in Nairobi, the situation has forced them to increase charges for services rendered until further notice, says Kenya Sex Workers Alliance boss.
“Things are tough and we have been forced to adjust our prices. Sex workers who were charging Sh500 have now doubled to Sh1,000 and those who were charging Sh1,000 have doubled to Sh2,000.
“Unga and the cost of living have gone up, so whenever a client shows up, they must be told about the changes in price because the economy is affecting us too,” sex workers rep Fellister Abdalla says, adding that the new prices will remain in force until the economy stabilizes as the women have no other means of earning a living.
In some parts of Nairobi’s city centre, sex workers who pay for rooms from where they service clients on a daily basis and those who while time away in bars hunting for customers insist they must up their prices because cost of rooms and price alcohol have shot up.
“At the moment, the women have to book rooms that are Sh200 or Sh300 more expensive. The prices of condoms have also gone up since the ones distributed by the government are no longer available. Because male customers often don’t carry condoms, we have to charge more,” she explains.
The increase in ‘download’ costs is the latest upheaval in the throbbing flesh sector. At the peak of the covid-19 pandemic last year when the City was virtually deserted at night, some brothels closed business and the buildings were turned into business stalls.
That’s not all. In a recent interview with The Nairobian, Executive Director of Bar Hostess Empowerment and Support Programme, Peninah Mwangi, says digital sex platforms are slowly shaping the flesh business, with men paying for nudes as opposed to presenting themselves in flesh.
She added that the sex trade was also moving to estates in what she described as “decentralization of all sectors”, among them banks and supermarkets.
But King’s Condoms Promotion CEO Stanley Ngara, who has been distributing protective sheaths in some joints for years, says more women are available than before at the moment and that sex joints appear to have been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Cash flow is down and social places that used to motivate sexual activities are no longer active,” Ngara explains.
Commercial sex workers stationed at various towns along the Mombasa Nairobi highway have hiked their prices too.
The affected towns include Mtito Andei, Kambu, Kibwezi, Makindu, Emali, Sultan Hamud, Salama, Chumvi all the way to Mlolongo in the Mavoko constituency.
Mtito Andei commercial sex workers chairlady Catherine Kilonzo, alias “Caribbean” says they are not playing games.
“Currently everybody is feeling the heat due to food prices. Travelling is expensive because operators have increased their rates. We have therefore agreed to raised prices so that we can meet our personal needs and those of our families,” Kilonzo told the Nairobian
In the new price chart, cost of a single shot has risen from Sh200 to Sh500 without romance, and a client must strictly use a condom.
“If you have to indulge in romance, you must part with Sh1,000,” she adds
But some sex workers say any mode of caressing is a waste of time since they don’t need any preparations before engaging sex. To them, sex is commercial, for the man’s pleasure, and they are there to earn money.
The town has more than 100 sex workers.
In a message to truck drivers who are their major clients, the chairlady urged them to adjust to the new prices because negotiations on the “Menu” will not be tolerated.
“We have already benchmarked. One of us travelled to Narok and her findings are the same as what we are charging here. If one feels our rates are high, let him get satisfaction from his wife, or elsewhere, but I assure them that we will not service them here for less,” she says, adding that tumbling in the hay for a night is negotiable but will not cost less than Sh3,000.
Coincidentally, this is the group of sex workers that received Sh1Million from Deputy President William Ruto several months ago.
Although they had promised to venture into other businesses and get off the cold streets, saitan emerged and they squandered the funds.
Faith Mwikali, one of the oldest sex workers along the busy highway, has been in the sector for the last 22 years and she says she has absolutely no quarrel with the new rates.
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