Amalemba Grounds: The new humping spot for randy couples

Sex perverts in Kakamega County are now making out at green lodges on the outskirts of the town’s Central Business District (CBD).

This is after the notorious Muliro Gardens was given a facelift. The recreational park is now a hive of business activities. It is no longer associated with the saga that happened way back in 2011 when shocking photos and videos of couples having sex at the facility emerged.

The photos lit up social media and saw Kenyans go gaga and sparked a lot of criticism from far and wide, prompting church leaders to visit the site to cleanse it with anointing oil.

Following the intervention of the county government, the wooden benches on which randy couples made love were removed.

In their place are paved walkways that cut through the garden with two giant lockable gates, running water, metallic dustbins and manicured gardens with indigenous trees that have replaced a bamboo forest that had occupied a large section of the park.

Having no other place to go, commercial sex workers, naive couples, cheating spouses and perverts as well as voluptuous college, university and even students from local secondary schools have now turned to the bushy ‘green lodges’ located in estates, garages, and parking lots for daylight sexual romps.

POPULAR HIDEOUT

The new green lodges are around Joyland estate, Amalemba grounds adjacent to Amalemba Catholic Church and at Koro kwa Mlima.

The bamboo canopy at Joyland ‘lodge’ provides the ideal green cover.

There is no mistaking that the place is a site for sex escapades – the presence of used condoms and empty bottles of alcoholic drinks littered all over betray the green hideout. Anthony Lugaria, a security guard at a nearby school says the green lodge is a popular hideout for lovers seeking sexual pleasure.

“I have seen many couples and even married men and women coming to have sex at this place. It is irritating but since we are in a democratic country, I just stick to my job without interfering with their affairs,” says Lugaria.

According to Lugaria, the place is usually a beehive of activities during the morning and late evening hours.

“People stream to this place in high numbers. I think it is because the area is quiet and has a good serene environment. It is quite big and it normally becomes very busy from 5am to 7am, and between 7pm to 9 pm,” says the security guard.

Lugaria says sometimes, lovers enlist street boys to chase away straying passersby. “At night, you will find hired street boys blocking people from using this route to give time for those fornicating, and if you resist they rob you,” he claims.

Another trick employed by couples to divert attention is having the street boys sleep on the edge of the garden.

“You will find some street boys sleeping on the edge of the place while those engaging in sex are entangled inside the woodland. This makes it difficult for a stranger or anyone to know what is happening inside the place,” reveals Lugaria.

One of the street boys who identified himself as John told The Nairobian that they are paid between Sh100 and Sh300 for the job of securing the area.

“Our main role was to keep vigil and look over the backs of our customers from intruders who might be a distraction,” said John.

“Given that we have no income, we found it convenient to provide security to the sex perverts in exchange for money in order to earn a living as opposed to stealing and getting a thorough beating.”

Some three kilometres away is Amalemba grounds, another preferred sex den. At the edge of the ground, scattered bushes offer a perfect hideout for lovers. “When you see cars parked on the edges of the grounds, just know the occupants in the car are having sex. They have taken advantage of naive students from institutions of higher learning around,” says Meshack Andwana, a boda boda rider.

BUSIEST DAYS

According to locals, the place has become a sex hideout, especially for married people.

“This area has become a notorious place for people who engage in sex, especially between 8pm and 9 pm with Fridays and Saturdays being the busiest days,” says Mary Osonye, a trader at a nearby market.

The trader says they recently confronted a man with a married woman having sex at around 7 pm.

“The motorbike they rode on was parked a few metres away from where they were engaging in the act. When angry residents interrogated the couple, it was established that the woman was married within the vicinity,” recounts Osonye.

The man managed to escape as the mob was baying for his blood.

“This place has become a hideout for people who steal other people’s wives and husbands,” laments Osonye.

The incident followed a similar one when a man was busted with an unidentified schoolgirl at the same place at around 8 pm.

“I was coming from the market to buy foodstuff when I heard someone moaning from a nearby bush, I was eager to find out what was happening but I was surprised to find a man and a schoolgirl in uniform. I screamed for help but before the residents could come the two jumped on the motorbike and left in a huff,” said a resident.

In Lurambi at Koromatangi estate, residents have named Koro kwa Mlima as the place where couples retreat to have sex.

It sits on a rocky hill where men and women who do not want to check into rooms, prefer.

“The place is ideal for sex lovers who fear spending their money in good places. The place is usually busy when students of Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology are around.

But whenever the institution is out of session, some residents make good use of the place although at a low rate,” said Francis Baraka a stall operator.

Residents are urging the county government to erect floodlights in the affected areas, expressing fear that the location would in the future turn into a Sodom and Gomorrah of sorts.

“We want floodlights around this place to deter away people who have bad manners and lack morals. As a community, we may be forced to take the law into our hands and deal with those coming here to expose their immorality,” said Baraka.

“We are going to arrest people and expose them before the public, especially those who are preying on married women and vice versa,” he added.

Patrick Dhahabu, one elder from Lurambi says those who hide in bushes to have sex are wicked and an embarrassment to society.

“These men and women who are adults who do not want to go to decent places opting for bushes are weak in mind. Such people are supposed to be exposed like was the case in the past when we would never allow this kind of behaviour,” noted Dhahabu.