Watchman in campus hostel complains of sexual temptations from students

A night shift watchman in one of the ladies' hostels in Technical University of Mombasa (TUM) has it rough in his work, due to the sexual advances from the students. Simon Mutui, who has been guarding the hostels for a year now, says that the temptations are so open and so daring. He recounts the most recent case.

"It was at night when I was going to the ablutions. At the doors, I met with a lady who was coming out of the bathroom, a towel tied around her. Suddenly, the towel fell, and she became naked, standing before me, unperturbed. She blamed me for making the towel fall, yet I had not even touched her. I had to pick the towel and tie it back around her," he says.

Simon adds that he sometimes finds some of the ladies outside in the late night, dressed scantly, thus putting him in an awkward situation. Moreover, he says, they come out dressed in costumes and other minute clothing, almost exposing everything.

He says that there was a young man who was guarding the premises by night, who later quit his job due to the advances from the students. He says that working there needs a mature man who can control his feelings and act soberly.

However, his 'woes' are not from the students only. He says that even her female colleague at work tempts her quite much.

"She can walk to my booth and change her clothes, in front of me, without any fear. When I try to protest, she rebuffs me, saying that I am a man already, and therefore, I have seen it all already. She does this several times. I see a lot in this work," he says.

The guard adds that he sees the ladies there as her daughters and tries to advise them. He says that he is usually open with them, and they have become so used to each other, to the extent that some of the ladies hug him.

However, Maureen Onyango, a student residing in the hostel, downplayed Simon's sentiments. Maureen says that no one should limit how a campus girl should dress, especially when she is in the hostel premises. She adds that they cannot woo him to sex, while TUM has many better men than him.

She adds, "And even if we want to have sex we can do it anyway with our boyfriends out there. People can sleep outside."

Another lady, Sylvia Muema, says that her roommate once told her that the very watchman wanted to have her for a girlfriend. She adds that she has heard of several rumours of the guard trying to seduce some ladies there.

The hostel is out of bounds for male students. In fact, male students are stopped several meters away from the hostel's entrance. This is after the people around the hostel complained of the indecent behaviour of students along the roads in the hostels' vicinity.