Runs: 3 Kenyan women talk about their preference for "sugar daddies"

These 3 women confidently speak talk about their love for comfort through 'sponsors'.

On April 4, 2018, Pulse revealed the conversations Ghanaian socialite, Moesha Buduong had with Christine Amanpour of CNN about sugar daddies.

The conversation was so nuanced, yet hilarious and incredibly real, representing the realities of a typical African society where women crave the comfort of living their best lives afforded by sponsors -a lavish spending or spendthrift older man, who showers younger women with a great lifestyle, in exchange for regular sexual magic.

The game is the game

 

On Tuesday, August 29, 2018,  BBC debuted another episode of its investigative series BBC Africa Eye. This time, they focused on women who prefer to date rich old men for the obvious reasons.

Just as in Nigeria where it is widely believed that certain sexually liberated women prefer married men to single men because they offer more stability and ‘funds’, Kenyan women a far more liberated and confident to proclaim their preference.

Despite Africa still being rooted in conservative standards, liberalism has found its way in through a need to live or be known.

In the BBC feature, 20-year-old Jane speaks on about how the conditions of living in Nigeria have affected her lifestyle.

She aims to emulate the big Kenyan socialites like Huddah Monroe and Vera Sidika, living in highbrow areas, having lavish holidays on luxury yachts, with homes in America and enviable lives. She claims her parents raised her right but she chose her own path.

She quips, “What is wrong about sex, anyways? People just make it sound wrong”, to underline why sex is to carried as a special thing. In Jane’s words, “you have to hustle, or you’ll end up on the streets.”

While the numbers were previously speculative, the 20-year old thinks that a staggering 60% of girls in Kenyan campuses have sponsors while the other 40% “maybe” don’t have.

 

Incredibly, she also knows that these men are married, but need a side chick. While she started off making 5,000 Kenyan shillings at a massage parlour, she couldn’t refuse the side hustle of requests from rich guys who pay for sex.

Jane also believes in brains. She believes that only beauty doesn’t do it, and wants to be respected and make sure her sisters don’t go through what she’s going through.

Bridget is affluent and had a transformation from a house girl. In explicit version, she says, “Kenyan socialite is a woman who goes half naked to attract rich boys in town.”

Incredibly, now rich entrepreneur and socialite, Vera Sidika and star of the Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Real Housewives Mashup, once said, “my body is my business and it is a money maker.”

Huddah Monroe, a graduate of Big Brother Africa justifies posting her half naked Instagram posts with the bucks she’s rolling in.

While showing off her accessories that includes $3,000 shoes and limited edition/exclusive handbags, she says, “I grew up in Kibera slums. The ghetto is about survival of the fittest.”

 

Bridget also confessed that she got molested as a kid and suffered PTSD till she was 25. The magic was when she started in modelling due to her attractive curves.

She says, “When your pictures are all over, all these rich tycoons want to have a taste of this fine, beautiful African woman. They will send you a message in the DM or they send their Pimp.”

Bridget, who already stars on Nairobi Diaries and claims that, “You are a girl looking for money and you’re getting a a guy waning to give you $10,000 just to go visit him wherever in Dubai.”

“It’s crazy things you’re asked to do. We’re told to suck toes, to do what… It’s crazy.”

Bridget however claims that she did it when she was desperate, but it’s not something any woman should be proud of. She says, “Nothing goes for nothing.”

For Grace, she has a steady sponsor that caters to her need. The BBC however reports that she is poor and lives hand-to-mouth by dancing in clubs while struggling to pay bills and care for her daughter.

She is also a singer and cites Vera Sidika and Beyonce as her role models while stating her dream is to become a celebrity — in other words, “socialite.”

She claims her parents tried their best, but it wasn’t enough. Her grit is palpable in her words, “I need to be a star.” to care for her daughter and give her a better life.

Grace says, “I have a male friend and when I call in and tell him I want to pay for my house but I only have money for shopping, and he could give me like 5,000 Kenyan shillings. Sometimes 7 or 10 (thousand).”

She continues, “But the kind of sponsor I need, they’re going to change my life. Having that person is better than selling your body somewhere in the street. To me, that’s better.”

According to Grace, she goes to somewhere called “coast”, which has an array of well-to-do men who will give her “support.”

 

It’s no fault of these women either, the Kenyan society apparently encourages transaction relationships according to Crystal Simeoni, a gender and economic policy expert.