But one of the boys e ventually opens up after we con vince him we ha ve a group of tourists interested in underage girls. Juma Mzingo, popularly known as Jay by his peers, re veals most of his colleagues are primary school dropouts, who now eke a li ving out of tourism. He tells us that to join the group as a beach boy, one must be a recognised local and is usually assigned a role by the team leader.
"One can be assigned to engage in camel rides, boat rides, tour guiding, and curio sales or purely as a pimp. Outsiders are very unwelcome and can easily be tossed into the ocean if they try operating here," he says.
Jay, who specialises in boat rides and pimping, cheekily laughs off when we inquire about the in vol vement of tourists in sex with underage girls.
Girlâs specification
"This is very simple. Tourists come from the resorts to the beach e veryday seeking young boys and girls. Some are usually very specific and insist on young people from the Digo and Maasai communities and they get what they want," he says.
The 22-year-old, who speaks fluent German and some Italian, re veals that when it comes to underage girls, they source them depending on the amount of money tourists are willing to pay.
"If they are not paying much money, we just get young prostitutes who ha ve been in this business for a while. But if they promise to pay much or e ven marry the girl and take her abroad, we usually get young girls from our own families or clans because we will benefit in the process. The parents ne ver resist because they know they stand to benefit financially," he says.
Jay, who has been a pimp since he was 14, re veals that a beach boy can recei ve a commission of between Sh500 and Sh20,000 from tourists for each girl secured. They also get a commission from e very girl hooked up with a tourist.
"When female tourists ask for young boys, we ne ver go for any since we can entertain them oursel ves. If they need a Maasai boy, we just don Maasai regalia to decei ve them," he says amid a wide grin.
Jay says that sexual acti vities with minors can take place anywhere pro vided there are no âoutsidersâ nearby. "Some tourists just ha ve sex on the beach, while others do it in the villas. Most of the workers in the resorts around here know the beach boys by name and they sometimes send guards with a list of exactly what their clients want. We get the girls and take them to the villas immediately," he says.
But he notes that there are those tourists who do not like taking chances and thus prefer sleeping with the girls in the deep sea.
"We normally charge them Sh1,000 for the boat ride and take them to the deep sea, where they ha ve sex on the speed boats. Others prefer to be taken to Robinson Island while some do it on coral reefs deep in the ocean where no one can spot them," he adds.
