Improve labour conditions of private security guards
What you need to know:
- We believe that it is in the interest of the state, private security firm owners and citizens to ensure that the working conditions and overall well-being of private guards
A recently released report by the International Code of Conduct Association (ICoCA) entitled Working Conditions in Private Security Country Report Uganda has revealed the abject working conditions of private security guards. The statistics put out by IcoCA reveal an unconscionable pattern of abuse by the employers of security guards who provide the vast majority of protection across the security sector.
IcoCA is a multi-stakeholder initiative formed in 2013 to ensure that providers of private security services respect human rights and international humanitarian law. The findings of the study, which was completed in 2023, reveal that private security guards averagely earn Shs130,000, monthly wages, a pittance, which is considerably low to provide for their families’ basic needs.
Amongst the key challenges security guards face are: income inequalities, low access to benefits like medical cover, and guards working for long hours. Others are: a lack of staff coordination, a lack of clear career growth plan, and a lack of employer protection of their rights in times of crisis.
The report reveals that there is bias in the deployment of guards based on one’s ethnic group as well as female guards being at risk of sexual harassment by supervisors and clients. It also illuminates the perception that security jobs are not fit for women and a low opinion of security guards by clients and the general public.
About 71 percent of the security guards in Uganda work seven days a week without a day off and 65 percent cannot take breaks at work. These are egregious conditions that contravene domestic labour laws and International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions. One of the major findings of the report indicates that 39 percent of the respondents believe that poor working conditions are likely to influence guards to engage in unlawful acts.
As the pitch-black skies envelop Kampala after dusk, many of these youthful guards trapped in perpetual servitude conditions must confront the most daring armed criminals who target banks, forex bureaus, petrol stations, and the palatial homes of their masters.
Little wonder, a few guards have previously been persuaded by criminal cartels to provide vital leaks in the commitment of robberies. The report nonetheless reveals a few bright spots. Seven in every 10 security guards in Uganda have a national security fund with their employer and more than a third of the guards receive other social benefits from their current employer.
Fifty-nine percent receive meals, 39 percent receive transport, 20 percent are entitled to accommodation and 10 percent receive uniforms. This is refreshing. But in a country with a flawed security deployment architecture, it's common to find three police officers manning a police station, which serves 3,000 civilians, and a minister entitled to six police guards.
The police, whose role is to maintain law and order, protect life and property, and prevent and detect crime, have abdicated this critical role to private security guards. We believe that it is in the interest of the state, private security firm owners and citizens to ensure that the working conditions and overall well-being of private guards— the bulwark of the country’s fragile security apparatus—are greatly improved.
