Labour CS Bore disowns order to pay security guards Ksh.30K minimum salary

Labour Cabinet Secretary Florence Bore has disowned a notice issued by Fazul Mahamed, the Director General of the Private Security Regulatory Authority (PRSA), directing that private security guards be paid a minimum gross pay of Ksh.30,000.

CS Bore, in a statement issued on Friday, said her ministry cannot validate the pay raise directive issued by PRSA, maintaining that the applicable minimum wage remains operational.

She confirmed that the issue is undergoing judicial review in the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi, with Mahamed and PRSA being the respondents.

“As a ministry, we cannot authenticate the stated publications and this is best responded to by the Ministry of Interior and National Administration or the Authority who are referred to in the publications," she stated.

"This matter is currently active before the Employment and Labour Relations Court at Nairobi under Judicial Review Application No. E043 of 2023. We are confident the court will render a just and fair verdict, in accordance with our Constitution and the law."

CS Bore said it was imperative to involve all key actors to extensively bring up issues and interests of both workers and employers.

She thus called upon employers and employees to maintain calmness and patience as they await the court ruling. 

“In order to comprehensively address the issues of concern and interest to workers and employers in the sector, we require an integrated and all-inclusive approach, bringing together key actors to look at the issue," she noted.

In the notice issued in November last year, the PRSA boss stated that the Ksh.30,000 gross pay includes a basic salary of Ksh.18,994.08, house allowance (Ksh.2,849.11) and overtime allowance (Ksh.8,156.81).

According to the notice, any person, government institution or private organization who fails to pay a licensed security guard the mandated basic minimum wage shall be liable to a fine, imprisonment or both in the case of a natural person and Ksh.2 million for a company.