NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 25 – Private guards are set to be paid Sh30,000 minimum wage after the High Court upheld a legal notice by the Private Security Regulatory Authority (PSRA).

This follows the dismissal of a petition challenging the implementation of the minimum monthly wages for security guards, paving way for the pay rise.

Former PSRA 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. 

In the petition, 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.

 Association of North Rift Security Firms moved to the High Court in Eldoret to challenge the move.

They were then granted orders stopping the implementation of the legal notice by Justice Anuro on December 1.

On January 16, Eldoret High Court judge Justice Wananda Anuro ordered that the petition dated November 30, 2023 and the notice of motion of application be marked as settled and the file was marked as closed.

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.