Police to issue work permits to private guards
Oct 18, 2014
THE police will soon issue permits to all private security guards after rigorous screening, in light of weeding out incompetent guards
By Vivian Agaba and Innocent Anguyo
THE police will soon issue permits to all private security guards after rigorous screening, in light of weeding out incompetent guards.
Security guards that shall not qualify to get the permits will not be allowed to work, police has warned.
The Inspector General of Police, Gen Kale Kayihura said the move is aimed at standardizing the mode of recruitment, training and remuneration of private security personnel.
“We want to make sure that those who are guarding are really effective. This would allow the police to focus on other core national security concerns other than those at private premises that can be solved by guards,” argued Kayihura.
Kayihura was addressing students of Makerere University during the National Youth Crime Preventers Forum held at Makerere University Main Hall on Friday.
For long, the various Private Security Organisations (PSOs) have maintained independent whilst disparate modes of recruitment and training of private security personnel, with little influence from the police and other state security agencies.
In a country where the police and other security agencies cannot police every installation and building, especially in the private sector, the intervention by PSOs comes as welcome relief.
There are a myriad of PSOs-about 119 in the country all providing security and reinforcing the role of state agencies by plugging the gaps especially where the state institutions cannot be.
However, the quality of service that these PSOs provide has come under scrutiny with a number of security experts warning that the poorly trained, equipped and motivated guards, casting a grim picture of the industry in the country pose a weak link in the fight against terror.
It is not strange to see private security guards armed with defective and fake firearms with inadequate ammunition, some held together with rubber straps and pieces of wire, posing a danger even to the guards themselves.
Paul Simon, a man with over 25 years’ experience in security and a deputy chairman of Hercules Support Limited, a private security firm recently said most of the PSOs and their personnel are not fit for purpose, owing to the quality of personnel employed, training offered and equipment used, with many providing "sham security" which could easily be exploited by terrorists.
He argued that whereas PSOs contribute to high security visibility, an important tool in fighting crime, terrorism inclusive, and their inadequacies in many areas discounts their contribution to the industry.
Kayihura recently accused some firms of recruiting peasants from the villages in the interest of profit while at the same time compromising security.
With a sector which Simon said was not adequately regulated, some firms are reported to pay as little as sh 90,000 per guard per month and others only paying their guards when their clients pay up.
"That is not supposed to be the case. PSOs should be required to despite security bonds with the central bank to guarantee that they will pay their personnel irrespective of whether the clients pay or not," he argued then, adding that the minimum monthly pay per guard in the country should be sh200,000.
Given the above scenario, he said, it was not strange to find guards going dosing at their point of deployment, going about their job without enthusiasm and at times asking for little tips from motorists while searching vehicles at entry point instead of concentrating on their work.
The forum was organized by Why Not Youth Pressure Group (WNPG), a group of enthusiastic young people who described themselves as East African, multinational, non-partisan out to attain youth governance, peaceful transitions, and employment for all.
Prof. George Mondo Kagonyera, the Makerere University Chancellor cautioned the youth not to make decisions in haste in their hunt for solutions to their problems such as unemployment.
“Quite often, the youth want to tackle their challenges wrongly due to lack of knowledge. It is therefore extremely important that whenever you want to address an issue, first identify what the issue is so as to get the right solution,” said Kagonyera.
Raymond Musiima, the General Secretary of WNPG, said some youth have been misled by some politicians due to lack of knowledge and therefore need to be empowered in terms of information.
“In order to have our problems solved, it is important we organize ourselves in groups, have dialogues with different stake holders so that our problems are addressed,” said Musiima.
He advised the youth to work hard and contribute towards the development of the country especially in the economic transformation other than fighting to destroy what has been built through illicit behaviour such as demonstrations.