The Kenya National Private Security Workers Union (KNPSWU) has issued a stern warning to private security firms that are ignoring the government's directive on the minimum wage for security guards, even as they continue to benefit from lucrative government contracts.
The union is now demanding that the Ministry of Labour takes decisive action and ensures that only companies that are fully complying with the mandatory wage directive are awarded tenders to provide security services in government offices and public institutions across the country.
Speaking to journalists in Nairobi, the union's Secretary General expressed frustration over what he termed as blatant disregard for the law by several private security firms.
He accused these companies of taking advantage of public tenders while refusing to pay their workers the gazetted Ksh30,000 minimum wage.
The union leader made a passionate appeal to the Cabinet Secretary for Labour, urging him to put in place strict enforcement mechanisms that would compel employers to respect and obey the wage regulations that were gazetted by the government.
"I want to ask the CS for Labour that as you have gazetted the minimum wages and general wages in various sectors of the Republic of Kenya, you must put into place mechanisms to make sure the directive by the President is respected and obeyed," he stated firmly.
The union further claimed that some firms that have been licensed to operate in the private security sector have continued to underpay their workers while failing to meet other statutory obligations.
These companies, according to the union, are operating with impunity and exploiting the very workers who are tasked with protecting lives and property.
In a strongly worded warning, the union said it would have no choice but to mobilise its members to physically remove non-compliant security firms from government and public institutions if the authorities fail to enforce the minimum wage directive.
"We are going to visit those assignments and make sure we chase them out of those assignments," the union warned, while also accusing regulators of allowing firms that disregard labour laws to continue operating without any consequences.
This renewed push by the union comes more than a year after the Employment and Labour Relations Court dismissed a petition that had been filed by a section of private security company owners seeking to overturn the government's decision to introduce the Ksh30,000 minimum wage for guards.
In February 2025, the court struck out the petition after finding that the case had been abandoned by the petitioner. Justice Mathews Nduma ruled that the matter lacked merit and had been overtaken by events, effectively allowing the directive to remain in force.
Following that ruling, the union welcomed the judgment as a major victory for more than 1.3 million private security guards across the country, saying it affirmed their right to fair pay. The union called on all employers to fully implement the wage order without further delay.
The security guards have been waiting for more than a year for the full implementation of the minimum wage, and the union is now making it clear that they are tired of empty promises and are ready to take action to ensure their members receive what is rightfully theirs under the law.
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