“Our investigations have established that the BBC team primarily sought underage girls involved in sex work. However, some of the girls falsified their age to qualify for the promised sponsorship by the BBC team,” Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen stated on Wednesday, launching a scathing attack on the recently released BBC Africa Eye documentary.
The exposé, titled Madams: Exposing Kenya’s Child Sex Trade, aired on August 4, 2025, and spotlighted Maai Mahiu town as a hub for child sex trafficking. It featured disturbing testimonies from girls allegedly coerced into prostitution, with one woman, Nyambura, bluntly stating, “Prostitution is a cash crop in Mai Mahiu; the truckers fuel it. And that’s how we benefit. It’s been normalised in Mai Mahiu.”
Murkomen, however, dismissed the documentary as a deliberate attempt to tarnish Kenya’s global image. He claimed the BBC team failed to verify the ages of the girls interviewed, leading to misleading conclusions.
“The documentary failed to reach the intended purpose due to falsified information from several interviewees,” he said.
While appearing before parliament on Wednesday, 13th August, Murkomen disclosed that the ministry had carried out post-exposure investigations which resulted in four women disclosing that the BBC had contacted them to allegedly seek out young, vulnerable girls between the ages of 17 and 21 for a fictitious foreign sponsorship.
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While no arrests have been made, Murkomen confirmed that investigations are underway, including scrutiny of financial records and call data to establish links between the journalists and the alleged victims. He warned that legal action would be taken against the BBC team involved.
The National Police Service (NPS) has since launched a probe into the claims, following directives from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP). The ODPP instructed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to submit a comprehensive report of the findings of the investigations into the alleged child sex trafficking claims within seven days.
In response to Murkomen’s remarks, the BBC issued a statement defending the documentary’s integrity. In the official statement published today, the broadcaster denied claims that contributors were paid or coached, asserting that all individuals interviewed were over 18 at the time of filming and were recounting experiences of exploitation that occurred when they were minors.
“BBC Africa Eye’s investigation is an important piece of public interest journalism that documents the exploitation of children in the Kenyan sex trade,” the statement read.
The BBC also raised concerns over the treatment of survivors by investigators, noting that some were questioned without legal counsel, potentially compromising their safety and rights.
By Masaki Enock
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