This archive report was first published on 21 December 2019.
Three years ago, a 12-year-old girl named Mwanaisha quit school in Diani, a gem of Kenya's South Coast. A neighbor, who was 24 at the time, had convinced her that life promised much more than the boredom of school work and exams.
Underneath Diani's calm surface, a reality exists where underage sex trade thrives unabated. Investigations have shown that some child welfare officers, policemen, and human rights organizations even encourage the vice.
Mwanaisha's story began when she moved in with Amina Masoud in White House Estate, a maze of permanent and semi-permanent structures just off Diani Road. Two weeks after moving in, she was taken to her first client.
Three years later, Mwanaisha still lives on the wrong side of Diani Road and still goes back home to White House. The only difference is that now, she pays her own rent.
According to investigations, recruiters in Diani's popular night spots offer men companions for Sh500, and for Sh1,000, they introduce them to a 'younger' companion, often a girl under 16 years old.
Another girl, Mwajuma, left her father's house in June 2017, hoping to find something better in Diani. She had spent five years out of school and was convinced by a former teacher that she could earn money by doing as she was told.
Mwajuma's journey took her to a popular disco along Diani Road, where she was introduced to a former student of her teacher's. She woke up the next morning in a stranger's bed, with used condoms on the floor.
As Mwajuma navigated the dark world of Diani's child sex trade, she encountered CID officers who were willing to look the other way for a bribe. Little did she know that the same vehicle would feature in her life again a year later, with devastating consequences.
