This archive report was first published on 2 December 2019.
Private security guards in Kenya are among the most underpaid and overworked individuals in the country. Despite their crucial role in securing billions of shillings worth of property, they are often paid peanuts and subjected to harsh working conditions.
One such guard, Allan Onyango, who represents over 500,000 private security guards, has to walk three hours to work on an empty stomach. He makes Sh6,000 per month, but after statutory deductions, he is left with almost nothing to take home.
Onyango's story is not unique. Many private security guards in Kenya are forced to live in poverty, despite their employers negotiating good salaries from various companies on their behalf.
According to a Nation investigation, security firms charge clients between Sh30,000 to Sh50,000 per month, but pay their guards between Sh6,000 to Sh10,000 per month. This leaves the guards with almost nothing to take home after statutory deductions.
The situation was supposed to change with the introduction of the Private Security (General) Regulations, which were published in 2016. The regulations aimed to put into operation the Private Security Regulations Act, 2016, and provide better working conditions for private security guards.
However, the regulations were annulled by a committee chaired by Uasin Gishu Woman Representative Gladys Boss Shollei. The committee cited inadequate public participation and unjustifiable delay in publication as reasons for their recommendations to annul the regulations.
Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho told MPs that public engagements were conducted by county commissioners who represent the national government in security and intelligence committees.
The move has left private security guards in Kenya without a Christmas and New Year gift. If the full House endorses the committee's recommendations, then security guards are done.
