We will make sure that regulations and legislation proposed by the Private Security Regulatory Authority (PSRA) are implemented, this is according to Isaac Andabwa, the Secretary-General of the Kenya National Private Security Workers Union.
The regulations, passed by the PSRA last year, are aimed at enhancing professionalism and empowering the lives of over 1.3 million Kenyans working in the private security sector in the country.
The regulations set the minimum monthly wage for security guards working within Nairobi at KSh30,000, while for those working outside Nairobi at KSh27,183.
Speaking to Radio47 on Friday, January 17, Mr Andabwa said the union had faced a lot of challenges in implementing the reforms, especially on the minimum wage set by PSRA for security guards.
“We brought reforms in the sector through the Private Security Regulatory Authority (PSRA). This reforms started with the welfare of private security guards, and their salaries. Employers are misusing private security guards by subjecting them to unconducive working environments. You get an employer subjecting a security guard to a three-month, two-month contract, something that distabilises him or her,” Mr Andabwa said. “I am still pushing for the implementation of these reforms, and we will not tire until they are achieved.”
According to a gazette notice published by the PSRA on January 29, 2024, any employer who will fail to adhere to the minimum wage directive will be fined KSh2 million or face both fine and prison term.
“A person who hires, employees or otherwise engages the services of private security service provider and pays or remunerates them below the mandated basic minimum wage prescribed herein commits an offence and shall be liable to a fine or to both such fine and imprisonment in the case of a natural person and KSh2 million in the case of a corporate,” Fazul Mohamed, the PSRA Director General stated in the gazette notice.
Two years ago, the Ministry of Labour had set the minimum wage for private security guards at KSh16,959 in Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa and Nakuru cities.
The Authority also commenced a nationwide registration, licensing and issuance of Guard Force Numbers (GFN), to individual private security service providers including private security guards, corporate security officers and all persons providing security services.
“Guard force numbers will bring sanity and order in the private security industry. We are not saying that security guards are criminals, but take for instance, one decides to break the law. He or she will be tracked immediately using the number and documented accordingly, so that he doesn’t get employed anywhere else,” Mr Andabwa added.
According to Mr Andabwa, security guards are integral in everyday life, with their presence in business premises, commercial banks and offices ensuring the whole security ecosystem works well.
