The mention of prostitution in Garissa will definitely be rebuffed as mere creations of an individual out to tarnish the name of the county.
But the truth of the matter is that the business is booming courtesy of 'high ranking' individuals out to satisfy their desires with no strings attached.
Following investigations conducted by this writer, DRC street and sections of Mororo village are the prime locations where the business is being secretly transacted.
Revelations from several sex workers operating at the brothels intimate that regular clients include members from the disciplined forces, non-governmental organizations and county workers.
However, the commercial sex workers disclosed that the business is conducted silently because the residents are big pretenders who do not want to accept that the business is real.
According to Muthoni, a sex worker operating along the Kismayo Corridor, both Somalis and non-Somalis visit them for services.
"Residents in this county like pretending a lot. They do not want to recognize the much we are offering to the economy, yet we have many people both locals and non-locals seeking our services," she disclosed, adding that they also face a number of challenges on their duties.
On a good day, which she says starts some minutes after 7 pm in the evening up to 11 pm, when popular joints close, Muthoni earns up to Ksh 2000.
On the contrary, she may occasionally end up with as low as ksh 200 on a bad day.
Upon inquiries from the County AIDS and STI coordination office, we learnt that the county has as high as 2000 commercial sex workers.
According to Noor Ahmed who is the programme coordinator, there is a need to face the reality and accept that sex worker are almost everywhere in each society today.
He added that the county government should establish drop centres to enable the twilight ladies to access integrated health care services and necessary counselling.
#hivisasaoriginal