By Anderson Ojwang and Dedan Okan
"Mimi ninalo Jambo lanisumbua akili. Ulimwengu ume pasuka mahali. Mungu alipanga usiku saa ya kulala. Sasa usiku umegeuka mchana na mchana ni kama usiku."
These words from Jamnazi Africa’s song Riziki, describing how people have turned the day into night and night into day, would best capture Eldoret’s Oginga Odinga Street.
The street named after freedom fighter and the father of Opposition politics the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga has, over time, gained prominence in the town leaving other streets in the shadows.
The street is a town within itself and self-contained as far as pleasures of this world are concerned. In fact unknown to many, this street was behind the hit song Riziki.
Jamnazi Africa’s leader Mike Otieno alias Awilo says the behaviour and activities along the street is no different from what take place in Mombasa. Yet he is surprised because Eldoret is still a young town, in fact a village compared to Mombasa and Nairobi.
"The street is self-contained more like a one-stop-shop because you will get whatever you want. Business is brisk all day and through out the night and it would be hard to tell what time of the day and night it is by looking at the crowd," he says.
Once darkness sets in like night creatures creeping out of their holes, traders of the night emerge. Among them are tea sellers who offer the beverage complete with bread commonly known as bandika. You’d have no idea how famous bandika until you see the eager clients lining up for it.
"It is sweet and in constant supply due to the demand. It draws customers from other areas as well," says Awilo.
The tea business aside, there are those who sell boiled eggs, roasted groundnuts who seem to target men keen to bolster their potency.
"The mobile boiled eggs and roasted ground nut traders roam the streets from the upper to the lower side and business is brisk. The demand is high for the two commodities because it is believed that they give more energy to men on randy missions," reveals a client who declined to give his name.
The joy of the street according to Awilo is that it has everything that can appeal both to the rich and the poor. Unlike places like Nairobi where certain streets are the preserve of the rich and others for the not so well to do, Oginga Odinga Streets takes in all.
A 24-hour economy
Joining the street from the main Uganda-Nairobi Highway reveals clusters of popular pubs and nightclubs majority, which operate a 24-hour schedule. One might be forgiven to think that they are competing with one another going by the decibels from each one of them.
As it happens with most clubs and bars flesh peddlers will be seen haggling over prices with willing clients. The deals are always clinched when the two are seen melting into the darkness hand in hand.
Others will disappear into the nearby low cost lodges for the duration of the time they agreed and the lodges will charge accordingly.
The twilight girls hang outside the nearby booths, clubs and other facilities from where they are able to spot their potential clients 50 metres away. Some of them usually cross to the other side of the road once they have spotted a potential client whom they take to the joints depending on the ‘swelling’ of his pocket.
According to John Mwangi a resident who operates a business along the street there are two categories of call girls operating along the streets. There are those whose value begins from Sh20 to Sh100 while there are those whose value starts from Sh50 to Sh500 depending on the agreed duration.
The girls live together in fours and often work in shifts since some of them have children. So when three of them go to work one is left to care for the children. The other three share their spoils with the one left at home.
A regular on the street, Mwangi has seen the best and the worst of the women. While some are extremely beautiful and definitely not cut out for the streets, others are too ugly to even deserve a second look.
John Otieno a resident says the street has some of the oldest brothels in town and modern hotels that are frequented by different clients.
"You won’t be shocked to find that rooms in these brothels have been paid for by the prostitutes and your work is to finish your business and disappear," he says.
A price for all
Otieno says the cheapest brothels are found on the lower side of the street leading to Eldoret-Kisumu Highway. Here there are around five brothels. The clients who frequent these brothels pay anything between Sh20 to Sh100. Of course when one pays 20 bob, their expectations are also cheap.
The prostitutes found here are often dirty, haggard not to mention old. One thing for sure they are 20 bob worth and nothing more. Mwangi says even in some of the modern hotels along the streets, high-class prostitutes have rented the rooms saving the clients the trouble of looking for accommodation. Whether the money for accommodation is charged in the final figure is hard to tell.
It is a booming business and the owners of the premises have no problems with the ladies renting the rooms provided they pay. This according to many is the modern day Sodom and Gomorah.
There are over 50 bars along the street and most of them are operational through out the night and day and they are ever packed with people. You wonder whether these patrons ever have any other thing to other than drink.
Bendine Kipruto prefers the street because it has four supermarkets with one operating 24 hours and providing the residents and visitors of any product or item they would require in the night. Her chances of getting whatever she wants here are high.
"This is the hub of business in town. From all corners you will find supermarkets and eateries that operate 24 hours. It is self fulfilling and safe too," she says.
Apart from the supermarkets there are three banks along the street.
"You do not have to worry about where to eat because it is only along the street where we have 24 hour fast foods. The street is a complete stretch," she adds.
Altonen Chumba a resident in Eldoret, says along the street are 24 hour pharmacies that allow clients to purchase drugs whatever the time of the day or night. Vegetable and fruit sellers are a common sight in the middle of the night with their young ones strapped on their backs.
Other kids can be seen running up and down the street while their mother sells her wares. There are also hawkers of videos who bare the wares at night including x-rated collections.
Like in any civilisation crime is never far from such places. The street is also a favourite with drug users and peddlers alike. The peddlers will not sell to you unless they know you or you have been taken to them by one of their trusted clients to avoid detection by law enforcers.
Crime is never far
Some of the criminals collude with the prostitutes who help them identify their targets from the binging dens. Once a target has been spotted, the prostitutes would give a sign or leave pretending that she is going to the ladies but will meet the crooks on the corridors and brief them on the target.
Along these streets there are street boys who act as parking controllers both at night and in the day at a fee. They also act security providers for those who have parked their vehicles. The taxi operation here is 24 hour and like in many towns it is also a sector rife with criminals.
A local journalist was pick-pocketed by some of the taxi operator after he had just walked from an ATM lobby and in a different incident two other journalists who had spent the evening quenching their thirst also fell prey to the thieving taxi operators.
One of the journalists had just walked from one of the pub and in his drunkard state jumped into one of the taxi. Instead of being taken to his destination, he was taken to Riverside where he was robbed and beaten up.
For motorists, cheap fuel will only be found in petrol stations that operate along this street. No one can tell why the fuel is fairly cheap here.
The street also has three colleges and the offices of a local media house. For men who want a massage, most of the saloons and health parlours along the street are handy in providing the services.
Eldoret, many believe, would have been different place had Oginga Odinga Street not been there. It makes the town tick with freshness and complexities of life.
