Sex Workers in Uasin Gishu Celebrate William Ruto’s Win, Want Him to Fulfill His Promise

Sex workers in Uasin Gishu County are in a celebratory mode after the Supreme Court announced Deputy President William Samoei Ruto as Kenya’s fifth president.

This comes almost 10 months after the president-elect promised to give them capital to start up decent jobs to sustain themselves and their children if elected.

Speaking to the press, Joyce Cheruiyot pleaded to the new government to find means to acknowledge them and their hustle by starting up mentorship programs and promoting them financially in order to will improve their standards of living during these harsh economic times.

“We are happy that the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the deputy president because he supports and recognizes our hustle without discriminating us in any way. We, therefore, call upon the president-elect to hear our plea and keep his promise of providing capital for us,” said Cheruiyot

“It is not our will that we are here but the harsh economic times in our country have pushed us. We already have a SACCO and we are already in groups, therefore, allocation of funds will be much easier,” she added.
The commercial sex workers want the county government to acknowledge their hustle citing that their job is just like any other job such as tailoring, fruit vending, and cloth selling among others.

“We face a lot of challenges out here, most especially from the county officers. We have been beaten countless times and our pleas to the police have not borne any fruits. Sometimes we get arrested and the officers taker all the money we have worked for. Sometimes you don’t have the money you just have to pay them in ‘kind’ in order to avoid the case going further. This job pays our bills and also pays our children’s school fees. We respect and love our job and it is our humble request to the county government to stop harassing and subjecting us to torture. We are human beings just like them,” added Cheruiyot.

They called upon the general public to join their sensitization program to educate the public about their job without looking down upon them.

By Cynthia Ochieng.