'Do not judge others or you too will be judged. For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured against you'
Mathew 7:1-2
Once, the people brought to Jesus a prostitute who had been caught in the act and they wanted to stone her to death, as custom spelled. The words of Jesus were, 'Let he that is without blemish be the first to cast a stone.'
In Kenya, prostitution is not illegal, but encouraging anyone to engage in it or living on the earnings of prostitution is illegal. Today I write to urge more of you to support the legalisation of prostitution and its enabling environment.
Legalising prostitution is not just in the interest of higher government revenue, but would go a long way in strengthening the rights of every individual in this country. On any one night there are at least 10,000 prostitutes in Nairobi prowling the streets of the town. Some of these will target the high end customers who will pay thousands to get their services. Nairobi has about 3 million people as inhabitants, which translates to about 1/13 of Kenya's population. It is not therefore out of pure idiocy that I say there might be over 150 000 prostitutes in Kenya, and that is before we can even add the gigolos. Few industries (excepting jua kali) would boasts of such a huge workforce in any economy the size of Kenya. What I am saying is this; Uhuru Kenyatta should have addressed the sex industry in his budget speech. That way the unemployment level in our country would have been cut by 3.8%. Sex is largely considered a leisure in prostitution as in Germany and Netherlands and so it would have to fetch a high tax rate. Let us assume that 25% was the tax rate and that the average income for prostitutes was 1000 per day, that would translate to 30,000 per month for 150, 000 people and their families. The government would rake in 7,500*150,000=1,125,000,000 and that is just in one month! In a year, it would be 135 billion and we would have a surplus budget, which would allow us to tell Obama to go to hell.
That money could then be used to fund the war against HIV/AIDS, STDS, to educate young stars on the dangers of engaging in prostitution, put them in an economic state that would make it unnecessary to engage in prostitution unless it was a trade of passion and to feed the families of prostitutes. I think we would have less street families then. But then the opponents will argue that it corrupts our morals. Last I checked, it was not even immoral to kill in Kenya just because my tribesman had lost or won an election. So who is to say what is moral? And who is to explain morals to those suffering poverty and starvation? Morals are a personal and a religious matter and these should never be allowed to drive the government. It is an open fact that the government cannot win the war against commercial sex, and I suggest, 'If you cannot beat them, join them'. Otherwise we shall continue wallowing in this pretended aura of piety while in the true sense we know what is happening.
Opponents of prostitution say that legalising it would encourage underage sex, trafficking and other such illegal and exploitive behaviour. But by legalising, I mean to include regulation, because every freedom and right must be curtailed. In any case, it is not as if these are not happening now. The media is filled with these despicable tales from Mombasa to Nairobi to Naivasha. Prostitutes would have certificates of practice, regular health checks etc that would make for consumer protection. To prevent exploitation, they would have to join trade unions and be restricted in their physical areas of trade. It is also possible to assign certain streets and times of day for their trade.
We have never had a perfect system of anything in this world that is why we keep repealing and amending our laws. Let us allow those who want to enjoy prostituting themselves to do so, those who can enjoy their services to, and those who cannot to enjoy the taxes they pay. Laws have never cured anything anywhere and we should stop pretending they are doing so here. When legalised, it would take the sting of stigma out of prostitution, encourage safe sex and thus reduce HIV/AIDS and STDs transmission, enable unrestricted public debate, the jobs would surpass 200,000 because of the pimps and trade union officials.
Legalising does not mean that we have to approve of what they do. Many states in the US allow for same sex marriages, while same sex relationships are recognized by even a greater number. It is the cost of democracy: freedom, rights and progress. The state our economy and democracy calls for bold steps, Uhuru Kenyatta should be that bold man. It is the only way some people will earn six figures and their children will go to school with the sons and daughters of business magnates and cabinet ministers which will mean these have an equal chance in life. Or we can just continue massaging ourselves in the idiotic belief that the oldest trade in the world will somehow fade away, by condemning. Remove the log in your own eye before you can see the speck in your neighbours, but if you are without blemish, be the first to cast that stone as custom spells.
