Tourism minister Morris Dzoro yesterday defended his raid on a beach hotel on Friday saying his action followed admission by three girls that they had been having sex with two tourists there.

Mr Dzoro told the Nation in an interview that he had interviewed mothers of the three schoolgirls, who confirmed that they regularly offered their daughters, aged between eight and 14 years, to the tourists for sex in exchange for cash.

He said his raid, in the company of the national chairperson of the Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers (KAHC), Ms Lucy Karume followed complaints that the resort was condoning child prostitution.

"These two foreigners are well known in the area for their immoral activities, which led them to be thrown out of another hotel in the neighbourhood," said the minister.

The girls come from Majaoni village in Kisauni and one of them is a standard five pupil at a local primary school.

The mother of one of the girls is blind and she admitted to the minister that she encouraged her daughter to indulge in sex for money.

Apart from abetting child prostitution, the hotel did not have a valid licence and a manager's licence, said Mr Dzoro.

The hotel manager, however, denied the child prostitution claim but said that the hotel had applied for the licences, which they were yet to receive.

"I have never bothered to find out what they do after leaving the hotel because all the time the girls are accompanied by their mothers, he said.

KAHC Coast chairman, Mr Mohammed Hersi called on the immigration department to review aliens permits and make it difficult "for retirees and social misfits from coming into the country".