Poverty has reached new levels along the Kenyan Coast forcing local residents to rent their spouses to rich tourists. Kenyans hand over their wives to tourists only to reunite with them after the ‘deed’ is done. Men ‘Renting’ Their Wives To Rich Tourists.
A tour guide James Kimani revealed to the Maravi Post how he has been renting out his wife since August 2018 to make ends meet.
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He said it all began after a tourist asked for his help in getting a Kenyan woman to have a good time. He immediately thought of his wife and surrendered her to the tourist, lying that she was his sister.
“Yes, I have a nice, bubbly woman. She is dark-skinned, well endowed and naughty. She is my younger sister, very single and well behaved. I can bring her tomorrow,” he reportedly told the white man.
He says that they are still married and love each other, though the woman has been away from home for the last two months after he hooked her up with another tourist, adding that she brings home as much as $400 a month.
“We still love each other, we are still married and she supports this family. She is the breadwinner,” he added.
Kilifi County Police boss Patrick Okeri confirmed having knowledge of the same, adding that it has grown to an extent that some women even have two husbands, a European and their original Kenyan husbands.
“Recently there was a case of a woman with two husbands, a foreigner and a Kenyan. She shares her house with the foreign husband when he comes to Kenya and when he leaves the country her Kenyan husband comes back home,” he said.
This aspect of Men ‘Renting’ Their Wives To Rich Tourists is a very sympathetic one that should never occured in this world of ours. No matter what such things should not be the solution to poverty. However, it is easier to say than the way it is in reality.
POVERTY Stricken Men ‘Renting’ their Wives To Rich Tourists for 400USD a Month along the Kenyan Coast
“Why should I make another woman rich yet my wife is jobless?”James Kimani, a tour guide at Kilifi, asked after a tourist asked him to hook him up with a woman for a weekend.
Kimani said the tourist was rich. He had seen him sponsor all his five friends on various excursions.
He wanted a lady to keep him company during his holiday in Kenya.
“After giving it a thought I said, ‘Yes I have a nice, bubbly woman. She is dark-skinned, well endowed and naughty. She is my younger sister, very single and well behaved. I can bring her tomorrow,” Kamau said.
Kamau was describing his wife. They have been married for 10 years.
On the evening of August 2018, he went home and made the proposal to the wife.
“Honey, the man is German. I will take you tomorrow to him. All I need you to do is act like my sister avoid raising any suspicion and satisfy him fully. Once he pays you, we will need that money to pay school fees for our two children,” he said.
The woman accepted and ever since she has been in business. Her husband hooks her up with rich visitors.
She takes home Sh40,000 monthly from the trade.
“We still love each other, we are still married and she supports this family. She is the breadwinner,” Kamau said.
Kamau hooked her up recently with an Austrian man and she has been away from home for two weeks.
“All’s well. I trust she will come back. The longer she stays the more money she brings home. Meanwhile, am taking care of the children as she hustles,” he said.
Kilifi county police boss Patrick Okeri said such cases are common.
He receives cases of women with two husbands, a Kenyan and a European. The women travel abroad to see their European husbands who happen to be their sponsors.
When they come back to Kenya they settle with their local husband.
“Recently there was a case of a woman with two husbands, a foreigner and a Kenyan. She shares her house with the foreign husband when he comes to Kenya and when he leaves the country her Kenyan husband comes back home, ” Okeri said.
Offering everything from big game safaris to sandy white beaches, Kenya attracts more than two million visitors annually from the US, Italy, Germany, China, Austria, France and Britain.
In 2018, tourist arrivals increased by 37.33 per cent from the previous year to cross the two million mark for the first time, posting significant growth in earnings to Sh157 billion.
The latest statistics show there were 2,025,206 tourists arriving compared with 1,474,671 international arrivals in 2017. The gains of the sector were a result of coordinated efforts between various arms of government,Tourism CS Najib Balala said while releasing the data at State House, Mombasa.
Tourism is a vital economic pillar providing millions with employment and accounting for about 10 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.
But in cities and towns such as Mombasa, Watamu, Diani, Kilifi and Malindi dotted along the coastline, foreign visitors have for years stoked the demand for se_x with local young women — and minors.
The Star interviewed police, child protection officers, three victims of the se_x tourism trade and human rights activists.
MINORS
Paul Adhuoch, who heads child rights organization Trace Kenya, said 13,000 minors engage in se_x tourism in the coastal counties annually.
“The lowest age of girls 11 years while for boys it’s 13 years. About 60 per cent of the victims are girls.”
Adhuoch said prostitution has led to an increase in unwanted pregnancies and se_xually transmitted diseases.
The latest records highlighted Kilifi as the county with the second-highest percentage of pregnant minors. Other coastal towns have a high prevalence of HIV.
“This shows the gravity of child se_x tourism,” Adhouch said.
He said Ukunda, Malindi, Watamu, Mtwapa and Kilifi are hotspots for se_x tourism but the trade extends throughout the Coast, including Diani.
The main causes of se_x tourism are the tourist themselves and poverty.
“Tourists are the main drivers — Many of whom are drawn to the Coast by the area’s reputation for se_x tourism. Poverty is also a major contributor,” Adhuoch said.
HIDDEN SE_X TRADE
Muslims for Human Rights rapid response officer Francis Auma said rich foreigners own apartments at the Coast, managed by residents.
“In those apartments owned by Europeans, a lot happens that goes unnoticed. This is where children are molested but the government does not make efforts to monitor these homes,” Auma said.
Auma said in some cases minors are molested and sold.
“At Mtwapa children are sold off to tourists in the evening. The cases are swept under the carpet for the foreigners are rich and can corrupt the system,” Auma said.
He said Auma said the Tourist police have done little to fight the vice. They give tourists a pass despite having evidence against them.
Mtwapa police boss Joseph Muriuki said though the cases are many, few are reported. He said people, especially victims, fear coming out for fear of being victimised by their families, who sometimes depend on them.
“We cannot tell if someone is undergoing such torturous acts unless they come out and speak, then the security will act on the information,“ he said.
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