Makutano town, the Mt Kenya gateway with deadly mix of illicit sex and brew
A street in Makutano town.
A common joke heard about the great Kenol-Makutano-Sagana-Ngurubani road is that the devil lives there and entices people he wishes to destroy through casual sex, oil siphoning, illicit brew, muggings and thefts.
The area forms the common border of Murang'a, Embu, Kirinyaga and Machakos counties. It is where many men surface with real cash to their credit, only to go back home with bus fare raised through charity, after impoverishing themselves in the sin industry of Makutano.
It's a town where you can pitch camp and destroy your present and the rest of your future or learn tips on how to become a life coach on making wise decisions in the face of temptations to sin. Simply put, it is a town that consumes more than it produces.
The official language in this town is Kiswahili as the tribes residing in it give it a mini-cosmopolitan status.
It is a place where women who have had a misunderstanding with their husbands, go for a brief sojourn to unwind, but end up being recruited into the commercial sex trade and forget about their marital homes. Some men who also abandon their families for alternative love, are also found in the mix.
It is a place where some women from nearby towns and villages with husbands experiencing lean economic times, rush to make a quick buck through commercial sex to sustain their families.
Once in a while, chilling news of women being murdered in lodgings as they attempt to steal from men break, as well as others ending in jail after being caught with stolen costly electronics that unbeknownst to them had tracking chips.
"Welcome to Makutano, where you can come and decide for yourself how it ends for you. You can come and leave as a wreck or as a wiser person ready to avoid the risks of life on the fast lane," said Stephen Kaloki, a trader who has lived in this town for the past 20 years.
What makes this town tick is that it serves four counties that are within a radius of 100km. Within that radius is Embu, which hosts most of the town’s sin industry, Kirinyaga, Murang'a and Machakos.
The town's most profitable businesses are alcohol, food, lodgings and public transport.
The Kirinyaga side of the town has a vibrant farm produce market that gives it the thrill of rich buyers, brokers and farmers who after a hard day's bargain, retreat into the sin industry to 'treat' themselves.
So lenient is the law here that there is no form of alcoholic drinks regulations. Bars open as early as owners can make it happen and close when there is no customer to sell to.
In the backstreets, gangs that deal in narcotics, siphoned oil, illicit brews, sex and contraband meat thrive unabated.
Within walking distance are Gwathamaki and Mathingira villages, famed for potent chang'aa, which is packed into glass bottles and sold in the market as gins.
The business of buying the glass bottles of legitimate companies that make mainstream alcoholic brands is booming.
Other popular businesses in the town include housing illegal immigrants in transit from Ethiopia and Somali to Nairobi, and being the offloading point for bhang by long-distance transport drivers from North Eastern for onward distribution to surrounding towns and villages in Mwea, Murang'a South, Mbeere South and Machakos.
Security challenges
According to Murang'a South Sub-County Police Commander Alexander Shikondi, the route from Makutano to Kenol presents him with the security challenges of narcotics and human trafficking.
He says in the past three months, 12 illegal immigrants have been arrested trying to get past Murang'a South and narcotics worth Sh2.5 million were impounded.
He says the narcotics had been transported from Moyale, whereas the immigrants were all from Ethiopia.
Locals get in on the rackets to make money.
"I have also identified an earning window that fetches me at least Sh1,000 per day. I buy sildenafil (Viagra) tablets from wholesaling pharmaceuticals at Sh10 each. I sell them off at Sh50 each. On a bad day, I sell 25 tablets to the many randy men who flock this town,” said Martin Ndunge.
He says that every morning the town looks like it is experiencing an exodus of women as they report for commercial sex work.
"In 2002, I met a man who had sold off his ancestral land for Sh7 million. I was then a commercial sex worker in this town. He became very generous and very reckless at the same time,” said Mary Nyambura.
“I found myself buying a 100-by-100 acre plot in the town for Sh500,000. I built a commercial building on it that today fetches me Sh50,000 per day."
Ms Nyambura says she initially had monthly rental rooms in mind but when they were completed, female commercial sex workers took the building over and with time it became a brothel.
"I moved in and established an eatery and two bars in the establishment. I have tasted real income on a daily basis," she said.
The man whose fortune was the source of her turning point went back to his Murang'a County home village and died of depression a year later.
A self-contained room averages Sh500 per night, whereas others go for as low as Sh200.
Monthly rent in this town ranges from a low of Sh500 to Sh2,500 for single rooms, with the few bed seaters around averaging Sh3,000.
In a town that is yet to attract a high-stakes property market, a prime plot measuring 50 by 100 acres retails for an average Sh1.5 million, but as you venture deeper into surrounding villages, the asking price goes down to an average of Sh400,000.
"The other business that does well is that of selling scanty pieces of clothing to these women. Selling female inner wear is another trade that does well here. It is a sin industry par excellence," said Michael Mwangi, who deals in second-hand clothes in the town.
So organised are commercial sex workers in this town that they have created a savings scheme to which they contribute daily.
"We are not ignorant of the fact that a woman shall not live by commercial sex alone. We are mothers, have ageing parents to take care of and we have to nice ourselves up,” said Judy Wanjiru, their coordinating secretary.
“We agreed that every morning we save Sh200 each. We have 90 members and when we pool together the daily savings, we hand it to one member. On a daily basis, one of our members gets Sh18,000 to go and develop her life."
She estimates that the town has more than 300 commercial sex workers but only 90 have bought the idea of the savings scheme.
The commercial sex workers say that besides giving out free ARVS, the county government should ensure that the high demand for condoms is countered with high supply.
Faith Ndung'u, a manager with the Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF-Kenya, says the government must provide more condoms in the town.
"The government must come up with modalities of bringing down the high taxes currently prevailing against those willing to step in and help the country restock condoms,” she said.
“Makutano is a town that requires at least 3,000 condoms daily but only gets 40 percent of that figure."
The town is neglected and is synonymous with dusty roads, burst sewer lines that snake close to the doors of rental houses, uncollected heaps of garbage and unplanned structures that serve criminal gangs.
County Communications Officer Martin Fundi says good development plans for the town are underway.
"Our county government is aware of the situation there and we are going to roll out a facelift programme for the town,
The town is served by the Makutano Police Station, which is largely accused of being part of the problem rather than a solution.
"This is not a security service provider ... it is a den of some crooks. Not a week goes by without some officers being involved in a scandal,” said an area resident, who did not want to be named.
Many sins and crimes
“They oversee the human trafficking, oil siphoning, diversion of cargo trucks to be robbed as well as reaping benefits from packing for the market third-generation alcoholic brands."
Nation.Africa was made aware that area residents tired of the many sins and crimes have been sharing intelligence with the Embu County security committee but no action has been ever taken.
From February 21, Nation.Africa was shown reports from the public booked as county security incidents. The complaints range from gambling machines entrapping children, brothels admitting school girls and boys, narcotics, police corruption and human trafficking.
One of the incidents is recorded as a complaint against a commercial building that has brothels, residential rooms and narcotics dealers under one roof.
"Yes, we have been receiving those tips and they are in safe custody. We are investigating the claims and soon you will see some real action," said Mbeere South Sub-County Police Commander Gregory Mutiso.
He said he had ordered a crackdown on all gambling machines after parents complained that their children on school holidays are being enticed to steal to gamble.
He said he encourages the public to keep the tips coming "and we will endeavour to package our services responsively".
But residents are not amused.
"We are losing it. We are tired of being discussed far and wide as home to the devil. We have been told security starts with us as citizens. But we have also known that insecurity starts with our administrators and the police," said an area opinion leader.
