Court suspends implementation of Sh30,000 minimum wage for security guards

The Employment and Labour Relations court has halted the implementation of the new security guards' salary directive by the Private Security Regulatory Authority (PSRA).

This is after the Private Security Industry Association (PSIA) sued PSRA and its chief executive officer Fazul Mahamed, Attorney General Justin Muturi, and Cabinet Secretaries for Interior and Labour over the move, terming it untenable and illegal due to the current state of the economy and a lack of public participation in the move.

Judge Mathews Nduma Nderi issued a temporary order, blocking the implementation of Legal Notice No. PSRA/005/2023, which was published by the Private Security Regulatory Authority (PSRA) on November 21, 2023.

"A conservatory order be and is hereby issued suspending the enforcement and or implementation of legal Notice No. PSRA/005/2023 pending the hearing and determination of this application," said Justice Nderi.

In the directive, PSRA had warned private security firms that failure to commit themselves to paying the new salaries would result in legal consequences including fines, penalties, and potential cancellation of their operating licenses.

"Any Private Security Company that fails to submit a duly signed copy of the Legal Commitment within the next 7 days shall be subjected to a statutory review of its registration and licensing status per section 32 of the Act," the authority said.

Earlier, stakeholders in the private security industry had in a joint statement on Friday said the pronouncements, if not checked, would plunge the private security industry in Kenya into untold chaos and disorder.,

The Kenya Security Industry Association (KISA) and the Protective and Safety Association of Kenya (PROSAK) were referring to the directive to within seven days sign a binding legal document committing themselves to paying their guards the increased minimum wage of sh 27,183 for guards operating outside Nairobi Metropolitan area and sh30,000 for those operating within the Nairobi Metropolitan area.

The stakeholders said the letter and its entire contents are untenable, unreasonable, and violate the legitimate expectations of its members.

"For the avoidance of doubt, we are not against regulation of the private security industry but the government must also be cognizant of the contribution that private security companies make towards job creation and maintaining peace and order all over the country," they added.

They said the authority's move is meant to create an unwarranted disruption to the provision of private security services in the country.

"It is imperative to note, from the onset, that no such legal notice has ever been published in the Kenya Gazette as asserted by the Director PSRA or at all. Most importantly, any gazette notice as may be published in the Kenya Gazette regarding matters of remuneration of any cadre of employees is a matter reserved for the Cabinet Secretary responsible for labor matters and more particularly, as provided for under the Labour Institutions Act," they added.

They further noted that only the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection is empowered by law to publish wage orders through the Kenya Gazette and therefore, as of today, only Legal Notice number 125 of 2022 is operational and it sets the minimum pay for daytime security officers at sh15,201.64 and sh16,959 for night time security officers.

They said that while the law allows for a cancellation of their operating licenses by the authority, it does not anticipate that cancellation of a company's license would be entertained or undertaken based on matters concerning minimum terms of conditions of employment.

"As of today, no regulations have since been enacted under the Private Security Regulation Act, as by law provided, and most of the pronouncements made by and directives of the Director PSRA from time to time are issued in excess and or without jurisdiction," they said.