A married stripper in Nairobi has opened up to The Nairobian about the business and how she manages to lead a double life.
Mercy Gathoni, 28, is a mother of two who plies her trade off the Thika Superhighway. She told the daily that her husband, an electrician, has no clue what she does for a living.
“I started stripping in Nakuru before I met him. Now I do it (strip) twice a week whenever he is away,” she told The Nairobian.
Asked if the pole dancing pays, Gathoni said: “On a good day, I make more than Sh8,000, which goes towards feeding and clothing our children as my husband sometimes leaves us with nothing much to survive on.”
“He knows I’m in a chama. Nothing more.”
Gathoni’s close friend, Maggie Alusa, also a stripper, is married with one kid. Her husband is a matatu driver who gets home past midnight by which time Maggie has pocketed around Sh3,000 or more, depending on the club where she strip dances.
“I was introduced to it by a neighbour who also trained me. I’ve never regretted because my husband comes home very late,” says Maggie, adding that the hubby lied to her that he owned the matatu he used to drive, only for her to discover the lie when she was eight months pregnant.
“My family in Webuye does know what I do,” she adds.
Mary Mugure, a retired stripper, told the daily: “You cannot enjoy sex with a client like when you do it with your husband. She says they always use condoms and take a shower before going back home.”
Mary who has since separated from her husband, has been training pole dancers on finance for four years and recalls that, “I started as a stripper and went around strip joints in Nairobi, Thika and Nakuru for more than five years.”
“My husband knew I was a stripper, and we have since parted ways because while I was going around stripping to put food on that table, he was busy with other women behind my back,” she says, adding that, “He would secretly show up in the club and that freaked me out while performing. But with time, he got used to it. We later parted ways.”
On a good day, Mary could make as much as Sh20,000, though she claims she is now retired although “sometimes I curtain raise in some clubs and leave early lest I give young girls a run for their money due to my experience.”
For now, Mary frequents strip clubs hunting for experienced girls to join Knight Nurses along Juja Road, from where they oversee some of their ventures, including salons and a car wash business which employs 10 women, as well as a poultry rearing project.
Source: The Nairobian
