The Ministry of Interior and National Administration's Ad Hoc Appeals Committee has ordered the Private Security Regulatory Authority (PSRA) to reinstate the licences of nine private security firms with immediate effect, saving thousands of jobs in the process.
This is after a petition was filed by the Protective and Safety Association of Kenya (PROSAK) seeking to overturn the initial decision by PSRA.
PROSAK had warned of over 700,000 job cuts owing to the recent directives instituted by PSRA.
According to PROSAK, the cancellation of licences was done without following the proper procedures outlined in the law which requires notice and an appeal before such an action was taken.
In February 2024, PSRA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Fazul Mohamed had deregistered the nine private security firms for failure to comply with the Ksh30,000 minimum wage policy.
The policy required all private security firms to pay security guards Ksh30,000 within seven days, failure to which, the companies risked being deregistered.
Alluding to this, the Appeals Committee nullified PSRA's decision regarding the minimum wage increase for guards stands null and void.
“The Legal Notice NO. PSRA/001/2024/ dated February 5, 2024, is hereby lifted and the cancelled certificates of registration are reinstated,” reads the ruling by the Appeals Committee.
"Any adjustments in wages must be gazetted by Labour Cabinet Secretary Florence Bore, as stipulated under the Employment Act No 11 of 2007."
The directive had been opposed by PROSAK which pointed out that the majority of the security firms would be forced to fire their staff to cushion themselves from the directive. The Committee directed all parties to withdraw any related court cases.
In a statement by Labour CS Bore last month, she disowned the minimum wage policy, citing that her ministry could not validate the directive before undergoing a judicial review in the Employment and Labour Relations Court.
"As a ministry, we cannot authenticate the stated publications and this is best responded to the Ministry of Interior and National Administration or the Authority who are referred to in the publications," Bore stated.
