Private security guards have a reason to be happy.
This is after the High Court upheld the Private Security Regulatory Authority (PSRA) legal notice setting the minimum wage for guards in Kenya at Sh30,000.
A court dismissed a petition challenging the implementation of the minimum monthly wages for security guards, paving way for the pay rise.
PSRA former Director General Fazul Mahammed had, in a legal notice in November 2023, directed all private security firms to pay their security guards a minimum wage of Sh30,000 before statutory deductions.
However, John Kipkorir, suing on behalf of Private Security Industry Association (PSIA), challenged the decision arguing that the action by PSRA and Fazul was not proceeded by any public participation.
He asked the court to declare the respondents acted arbitrarily and illegally in contravention of Article 10 and 118 of the Constitution of Kenya.
He also argued that it was the responsibility of the Ministry of Labour to come up with minimum wages regulation, enforcement and gazettement and not the responsibility of the PSRA.
However, Justice Mathews Nderi Nduma of the Employment and Labour Relations Court, dismissed the petition saying it was not only abandoned by the petitioner but also lacked merit.
“In the final analysis, the petition was abandoned by the Petitioner and is struck out by the court and in any event the same lacked merit and stood to be dismissed which the court proceeds to do,” Justice Nderi ruled.
PSRA directed employers to comply with the directives warning that any employer who remunerates guards below the mandated basic minimum shall be liable to a fine of Sh2 million, according to the law.
PSRA had in November 2024 set the basic minimum pay.
According to the PSRA, the minimum pay should be Sh18,994 with a house allowance of Sh2,849.11 and overtime allowance of Sh8,156.81 totaling to Sh30,000.
The statutory deductions will be National Social Security Fund (NSSF) of Sh1080, Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) of Sh825, Pay As You Earn Sh1229.75, and affordable house levy Sh450.
The Ministry of Labour had however in 2022 set the minimum wage for private night guards at Sh16,959 in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Nakuru.
Under the Labour Ministry guidelines, a security guard working in former municipalities was supposed to earn a minimum of Sh15,722 while their counterparts in other areas were expected to earn Sh9,672 per month.
The PSRA had also commenced nationwide registration, licensing, and issuance of Guard Force Numbers (GFN) to private security officers.
Those to be issued with the numbers include private security guards, corporate security officers, and all persons providing private security services, either employed or otherwise engaged by Government institutions or agencies.
The government is also in the process of fully integrating the private security industry into the national security infrastructure.
This will enhance intelligence gathering, information sharing, crime detection and deterrence, crime scene protection and the collection and preservation of evidence.
The Kenya Security Industry Association (KSIA) and the Protective and Safety Association of Kenya (PROSAK) had also last year opposed the directive increase the salary for guards terming it unilateral, without legal basis and only meant to create an unwarranted disruption to the provision of private security services in the country.
They also claimed that the amount proposed was unaffordable, citing the economic downturn, and further warning that implementing the directives may force some of these security firms out of business.
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