Prostitution taking over Yaoundé

At about 8:00pm on Saturday, our reporter went on an assignment to Mini Ferme, a neighborhood in Yaoundé that has become a hot hub for prostitution business in the nation’s capital.

Every night, young girls who are half naked and wearing seductive smiles to attract customers wait on vantage entrances to get picked up by their preys.

“We do not give high prices here – just 1000FCFA and we can go into my room behind there.” One of the prostitutes at the Mini Ferme neighborhood told the Journal while pointing her base.

Refusing to disclose her names, she however willingly spoke to the Journal about how ‘commercial sex’ has become a very enjoyable and profitable business in Yaoundé.

According to here they rush to any vehicle that stops in traffic to solicit business.

Seductive names like “Cherie,” “chouchou,” are the common phrases that they use to get a ‘catch’. In most cases, because many of them show up at the same time, they have to struggle for customers.

As the reporter stood by and observed, she could hear yelling phrases like, “I called first; no! I did; come this way cheri, I will work on you better” among others. It is the fight they must each put on else they risk not having a customer for any given night.

Surprisingly, they’re not lured into the trade because of the sky rocketing unemployment in Cameroon. They just seem to love what they do. When quizzed on their choice of prostitution, another who would not disclose her identity said apart from enjoying the sex, she thinks that commercial sex is the only business that fits her. “I joined this business in 2001; I have been doing it for the past 14 years. I did not join it out of frustration, I admire it and I enjoy doing it,” she said.

Also, you dare not question their choice of business. Those who dared were met with some form of assault. The prostitutes haul invectives at them and sometimes would result to fighting.

“This is how they function every night,” said Sidonie, a nearby lady who roasts fresh fish. “They come here as early as 7pm for men to pick them and sometimes they even fight amongst themselves over the customers.” She added.

The prostitution business in this neighborhood is conducted in a very organized fashion. The sex workers have paid for rooms with nearby landlords at negotiable rates. The landlords know very well their kind of business. We asked one of the prostitutes how much she has to pay for the room each night but she responded rather rudely.

“Why are you so inquisitive? If you want to join us here, you are free. Join us and you’ll know the details.” She told the reporter.

However, the Journal gathered that out of every man/client the sex workers have sex with, 50% of the amount they’re paid is shared between the landlord who owns the room and security guards who protect the consummation.

This is not happening only in the Mini Ferme neighborhood. Other neighborhoods like Essos, Ekounou, Mvog-Atangana Mballa and others, have, like Mini Ferme, earned notoriety as “pleasure” zones in Yaounde. Each of the neighborhoods has at least a bar where the harlots lay in wait for ‘customers’. Here, regular customers have also mastered the grounds and would always check on them there whenever their libido calls.

But all the men, including those at the venue, could summon the courage to admit to the Journal if they visit the prostitution zones. But we independently confirmed that the prostitution zones in Mini Ferme, Essos, Ekounou and Mvog-Atangana Mballa are reserved for the average customers who often pay just a thousand francs or less to have a release.

We also found out that commercial sex workers in Yaounde are of different categories. “The prostitutes you find in these neighborhoods are the cheaper category. Most often only students and average men come for them because they can afford their cost,” a resident of Mini Ferme told our reporter.

The Journal gathered that men who prefer higher quality girls and who perform better, get their choices at the Independent Hotel or Hotel de Ville. The prices are different there. Minimum pay, the Journal gathered, is 5,000FCFA a round. The price can be bargained up to 50,000FCFA depending on the skills or experience of the prostitute and the assets she carries.

When we spoke to one of them, she said: “Most men who come here prefer those who have big asses like mine. Some of them also go for big breasts which I also have. That is why I make much money here at the end of every night.” She added that her price can even go higher when she promises the man extra skills in bed.

When she was asked where the action takes place, she said; “Most men prefer to do it in their cars but only a few prefer the hotel. Most of those who come here do not like going to hotels probably because they do not want to be identified and that is why they prefer to do it in their cars,” she said

Asked if she likes it in the car, she answered: “I don’t have any choice, what I need is my money. If he pays my money I can do it even by the roadside here.”

The street leading to the Governor’s Office through the Independent Hotel gets constantly busy from 7pm every evening. The prostitutes, dressed in miniskirts and short blouses that expose their stomachs, light the streets from both sides of the road with each making frantic moves to stop every car that passed by.

As we stood by to observe, we could see them rush towards every car that halted in traffic to make their offers. The offers are highly competitive and they do it very seductively. While one lifts up her blouse, another displays her buttocks with another showing off her breasts. The choice is left to the beholder – the ‘customer’.

The rate of prostitution in Yaounde in particular and Cameroon in general has grown alarmingly. In Bamenda, they can be spotted at Mobil Nkwen; in Douala, they are in Rue de la Joie or Carrefour J’ai Rate Ma Vie; in Buea they are camped at Muea; while in Limbe, they are found at Church Street.

In Cameroon, prostitution is illegal. The Cameroon criminal code spells out punishment for prostitution with a significant amount of money and a term of imprisonment. But law enforcement officials have since stopped arresting prostitutes regularly as they used to do. The business has become so popular and so organized that some have even suggested that since the sex hawkers belong to a labour syndicate they ought to be allocated time and space for Labour Day parades.