By Antony Gitonga
NAIVASHA, KENYA: Naivasha town has in the last two months experienced a sharp increase in the number of commercial sex workers some of them under-aged girls.
Nearby towns of Mai Mahiu and Gilgil have not been spared either with high levels of poverty and lack of jobs blamed for the increase.
The crisis is coupled with a recent increase in cases of defilement with majority of the minors affected belonging to the sex workers.
According to Cathy Wanjohi, the Chief Executive Officer of Life bloom International-a non governmental organization, the number of commercial workers was worrying.
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Speaking after a workshop for commercial sex workers, she said that the organization that deals with prostitutes and abused minors had identified Mai Mahiu as the most affected.
Wanjohi said that majority of the minors involved in prostitution had dropped from primary schools while others were from single mothers already involved in the illegal vice.
“We have noticed a sharp increase in the number of commercial sex workers in Naivasha and Mai Mahiu in the last two months,” she said.
Already, Mai Mahiu trading center has been identified as one of the areas with the highest HIV prevalence rate in Naivasha district.
With a prevalence of 7.1 percent, the trading center emerged the top with the high number of truck drivers and commercial sex workers attributed to the number.
Wanjiru Ngige the programme coordinator Life bloom confirmed the increase in cases of defilement in the area saying that they were recording between 3-5 cases per week. She identified Mai Mahiu, Kihoto and Karagita estates as some of most affected areas with parental negligence blamed for the increase.
“A recent survey we did established that some of the minors affected belong to commercial sex workers,” she said.
Wanjiru said that many young commercial sex workers were lured to Mai Mahiu due to the high number of truck drivers mainly at night.
But speaking on phone, Naivasha OCPD Charles Kortok denied that cases of defilement were on the rise as alleged. Kortok said that their records indicated one case per week adding that they would investigate the issue on the increase in cases of commercial sex workers.
“We have heard reports in cases of defilement in Gilgil and Elementaita but they are not as high as alleged,” he said
