A High Court in Eldoret on Wednesday issued a ruling on the minimum wage payable to security guards in the country.
The ruling was made in response to a petition filed by the Association of North Rift Security Firms which had moved to the Eldoret-based court to challenge the government directive setting the minimum wage for security guards at Ksh30,000.
However, in today's ruling, the High Court dismissed the plea by the security firm and instead upheld the government directive.
"Upon this matter coming up for adoption of consent before Hon. Justice Wananda Anundo on 16th January, 2024 in the presence of counsel for the applicant and the Respondent, and upon hearing the said counsel and considering the issues raised therein; it is hereby ordered by consent therein that the petitioner's petition dated 30th November, 2023 and the Notice of Motion application of even date be marked as settled," the court ruled.
"This file is now marked as closed and each party shall bear its own cost," the court added.
In November last year the govt through a gazette notice published by the Private Security Regulatory Authority (PSRA) directed security firms to pay their guards a minimum of Sh30,000 in gross pay per month, in a bid to better their terms of service.
The proposed wage threshold set the minimum basic pay at Sh18,994, a house allowance of Sh2,850, an overtime allowance of Sh8,157, amounts which summed the total to Sh30,000.
Following the proposed increment, statutory deductions included the National Social Security Fund (Sh1080), Social Health Insurance Fund (Sh825), Pay As You Earn (Sh1,229) and affordable Housing Levy (Sh450), this set the net pay to Sh26,415.
According to the government, any employer who would fail to adhere to the minimum wage directive would be fined Sh2 million and if the court deemed fit, could also be both imprisoned and fined.
While acknowledging the decision of the court Fazul Mahamed, the PSRA Director General termed the ruling as victory to all security guards in the country.
