Private Security Stakeholders Take A Swipe At Regulator Over Mass Registration of Security Guards

Private Security Industry stakeholders have taken a swipe at the Private Security Regulatory Authority (PSRA) CEO Fazul Mahamed over his decision to launch the controversial mass registration of private security guards.

Private security service providers have called out the PSRA CEO for making a unilateral move that has no legal backing and therefore illegal.

The private security service providers have at the same time read mischief in the move by Mr Fazul as a veiled strategy to incite the security guards to demonstrate demanding the controversial KSh30,000 pay hike.

In a notice dated March 11, 2024, the Authority said as part of the ongoing efforts to regulate the private security industry, PSRA has initiated a free mass registration exercise for security guards. The registration is scheduled to commence in Nairobi at the Uhuru Park grounds on March 30.

This exercise aims to register at least 30,000 guards, who will subsequently be issued guard force numbers, according to PSRA.
According to the notice, private security service providers are required to release and facilitate the attendance of their Private Security Officers at the said function. At the same time, private security guards who are off duty, on leave or on night shift are required to attend. Additionally, all private security guards must wear their official work uniforms.

The notice leaves many questions abound for example, does this mean the guards will not offer services on that day? “The registration can be done in a better way,” says Livingstone Bush, a security consultant based in Nairobi.
Security pundits across the board have expressed reservations about the move by PSRA. “With an estimated 1.2 million individuals currently employed in the industry, the exercise slated for March 30, 2024, at Uhuru Park could easily turn into a logistical nightmare if the majority of the guards turn up,” says a security consultant who requested to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal from PSRA.

Stakeholders are emphatic on the need to wait until the regulations, now undergoing public participation, are fully implemented and operational for PSRA to proceed with the registration exercise.

As it is now, Mr. Bush argued that PSRA was acting ultra vires since there was no Board and regulations in place to offer guidance on how the vetting and registration of the guards would be done.

Security pundits are questioning how the guards showing up at Uhuru Park in official company uniform qualify one the Force Registration Number from PSRA. ⁠Is there an application or vetting process that the guards will be subjected to?

Consumers of private security services are pessimistic about having private security guards converge at Uhuru Park.

Logically, guards who are expected to report on night duty and remain awake and alert cannot be engaged in a lengthy process during the day when they should be having sufficient sleep.

“Only guards on official off duty or leave can afford such time. Guards should be informed and given time to register when available and the employer’s role is limited to releasing the employee to take earned off-duty and leave. The initiative for registration and any attendant costs cannot be borne by the employer,” said the CEO of one the leading private security companies who requested not to be named.
 

“I would like to know who will watch over Nairobi on March 30, if all guards will be at Uhuru Park?” questions Teddy Owino, the CEO of Brazil Entertainment, a hospitality and entertainment firm.

According to security pundits, with the publication/notification of the commencement of regulations to guide the operation of the 2016 Act, no new orders or notices should be issued by PSRA.

“Doing so before the conclusion of public participation and formal approval and operationalization of the law is no doubt lack of goodwill and showing contempt to the process and its intended outcome. The story of mass guards’ registration and numbering falls in this category,” lamented Polycarp Lidiva, a lecturer at The University of Nairobi.
Ends…