BBC News has responded to claims made by Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen that the documentary highlighting sex trafficking among minors in Maai Mahiu titled ‘Madams: Exposing Kenya’s Child Sex Trade,’ was fake and meant to taint the country’s image. Citizen Digital reports
During a Q&A session in parliament on Wednesday, August 13, CS Murkomen claimed that a section of the girls in the video falsified their age to qualify for “promised sponsorship” by the British broadcaster.
“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. No arrests have been made so far, but investigations are ongoing, including financial records and call data to link these parties and tracing witnesses,” Murkomen stated.
“The documentary failed to reach the intended purpose due to falsified information from several interviewees,” he added.
In a statement on Thursday, BBC News maintained that none of the victims were paid, offered payment or ‘coached’ in any way.
They added that the victims who were interviewed were above the age of 18 and recounted experiences of abuse that occurred when they were underage.
“We note with concern that following the broadcast of the film, survivors of childhood sexual abuse who contributed to the film were interviewed at length by investigators from the Kenya Directorate of Criminal Investigations without the presence of legal representation. There has also been a debate on the investigation in the Kenyan parliament,” the statement read in part.
“For clarity, none of the contributors featured in this film were paid, offered payment or ‘coached’ in any way. As clearly stated in the film, the survivors of abuse who were interviewed were all over 18 and recounted experiences of abuse that occurred when they were underage. We are thankful to the survivors for their brave contributions.”
Further, BBC News reaffirmed handing over the evidence gathered during the investigation to the Kenyan police in March 2025 in a bid to aid in the investigations.
The exposé, which has since garnered traction online, painted a grim picture of how girls as young as 13 years were easily manipulated and introduced to the sex industry for money.
Following the release of the documentary, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) directed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to probe the matter and submit its findings within 7 days.
