The Private Security Regulatory Authority (PSRA) plans to amend the law to enable the guards be armed.
PSRA Director General Fazul Mahamed said this will compliment their operations.
In the coming days, he added, they will introduce in parliament an amendment to Section 53 of the Private Security Regulation Act No. 13 of 2016 which will authorize the issuance of firearms to security guards.
He made the remarks when he presided over the kick off of the mass registration of the Private Security Guards and bouncers Saturday March 30.
Mahamed said every March 30 will be the Guards Force Day.
This is aimed at insisting the minimum salary of the group be pegged on Sh30,000.
Also at the meeting were bouncers, stewards and close protection officers.
Mahamed used the occasion to attack Central Organisation of Trade Union boss Francis Atwoli accusing him of failing to fight for the rights of the guards.
“Bwana Atwoli, security guards toil day and night to pay their monthly contribution to COTU. However, COTU does not fight for the interest of guards, it has become another money-making scheme. Atwoli has been at COTU for 23 years, what has he done for security guards in this country ? When was the last time he talked about their struggles?” he posed.
He said he will not sit on a high table, earn millions every year yet the people he is supposed to work for are suffering and languishing in poverty.
“Effective today, I hereby direct that no guard should contribute to COTU until such a time when COTU starts fighting for the interest of guards. No representation, no contribution,” he said.
“This day shall stand as a beacon of strength and solidarity for security guards, marking the restoration of their dignity and respect. It shall mark the day, security guards across the country convened at Uhuru Park and proclaimed their dignity, honor and respect,” he said.
He also put on notice private security companies hat have failed, declined, or otherwise neglected to submit their legal commitments to pay guards the government set minimum wage of Sh30,000 that they risk deregistration.
Mahamed said they have set standards for vetting and licensing security companies, digitized the data base of all private security service providers, established five regional offices across the country, and trained and issued Guard Force Numbers (GFN) to over 100,000 security officers under the private security training curriculum.
“We have further developed policies, some of which have been adopted verbatim by the Cabinet, such as the regulation of Airbnbs.”
The Authority’s adoption of technology in its operations is top notch and that a security guard can apply for registration with just a touch of a button by dialing 22233#.
PSRA through the Ministry of Interior has come up with four draft regulations aimed at addressing the evolving security challenges and ensure greater accountability.
The regulations, if enacted, will require stringent reporting and compliance standards that will compel private security firms to operate with a newfound transparency, offering clients and the public at large greater insight into their practices.
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