The Kenya Management Staff Union (KMSU) has urged private security companies to comply with government regulations on minimum wages, accusing some firms of underpaying workers and violating labour laws.
The union’s Nyanza Regional Organising Coordinator, Patrick Sakwa, said several private security firms had failed to implement the government’s minimum wage policy despite it being legally binding.
Speaking outside the Labour Office in Kisumu, Sakwa alleged that some companies were also deducting statutory contributions from employees’ salaries without remitting them to the relevant agencies.
He further claimed that some security guards were being denied annual leave and weekly rest days.
Sakwa warned that the union would take action against companies that continue to disregard labour regulations.
He was speaking alongside former employees of Pride King Security Company, who claimed they had not been paid salaries for the past six months.
According to the workers, they lost their jobs after security services at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital were taken over by the National Youth Service.
Some of the workers said they had been employed on renewable contracts for seven years but had not been redeployed after the change in service provider.
Sakwa also alleged that Pride King Security Company had changed its name, leaving affected workers uncertain about how to pursue their claims.
“The company must be held accountable for its obligations to its employees,” he said.
The director of Pride King Security Company, Maurice Juma, did not answer telephone calls seeking comment.
He later sent a text message saying he would respond, but had not done so by the time of publication.
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