8 January 2009
Kampala — THE Monday incident in which a security guard at Standard Chartered Bank shot dead a cleaner before committing suicide should not be looked at in isolation of the people hired by private security firms and the conditions under which they work.
While the bank incident is being treated as a relationship gone sour, recent criminal acts including bank robberies involving security guards points to a bigger problem within the private security system.
First, the majority of recruits into these security firms are either deserters or those dismissed from the military, Police or Prisons service for indiscipline.
The responsible police department should therefore, take keen interest in the calibre of people recruited by these firms.
Secondly, the type of training given to these guards is inadequate.
Only a few security firms have training camps, but the training ranges anywhere between two weeks to three months. That is too short for someone going to handle a lethal weapon like a gun.
The training period does not compare with the nine months for the military and police forces.
Thirdly, while these guards work under very harsh and risky conditions, their pay is simply exploitative.
They earn between sh50,000 and sh120,000 a month, a small fraction of the sh300,000 and sh500,000 institutions pay per guard monthly.
The poor pay coupled with harsh conditions, does not only make the temptation to steal high, but they are also not emotionally stable to handle stressful situations.
The responsible police department should therefore, vet the current security firms to weed out wrong elements dismissed from the regular forces but have found their way into the private security system.
The licensing of the firms should also include adequate remuneration and emotional training.
The police department should also be well-facilitated to carry regular inspection and audit of the security firms.
Lastly, there should be regular counselling for all those in the security forces to enable them cope with emotional stress that comes with the nature of their jobs.
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