President William Ruto has put private security companies on notice, threatening enforcement action against employers who have refused to implement Kenya’s legally mandated minimum wage increase announced on Labour Day. President William Ruto has issued a stern warning to employers over the implementation of the minimum wage. Speaking at a meeting with private security stakeholders at State House, Nairobi, on Thursday, 6 August 2026, the President condemned the continued underpayment of guards, revealing that some firms were remitting as little as KSh 6,000 to KSh 7,000 per month to their workers. “On May 1 this year I issued a directive on minimum wage to be increased by 15 per cent, but I have been told that many companies have refused to increase minimum wage by 15 per cent. Today I am warning them,” Ruto said.
Wage Directive and Who It Covers On 1 May 2026, during Labour Day celebrations in Vihiga County, President Ruto announced a 12% minimum wage increase for general workers and a 15% rise for agricultural workers. The revised rates were gazetted under Legal Notice No. 48 of 2026 and took effect immediately. Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) Secretary General Francis Atwoli later clarified that the 12% increase applies to all workers broadly, while the 15% uplift is designated for agricultural workers. The Private Security Regulatory Authority had previously issued a separate directive requiring security firms to pay guards a minimum gross monthly salary of KSh 30,000, above the Ministry of Labour’s KSh 15,201 baseline. Despite these requirements, the government established that numerous private security companies had ignored the wage order altogether. Government’s Enforcement Response Ruto instructed the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Labour, and the Private Security Regulatory Authority to ensure full compliance across the sector.
The law of Kenya says that it is inhumane for a person to pay below the minimum wage. Our good friends in the private security space, the regulator is here, the Ministry of Interior and Labour are here. We must work together to ensure all security companies operate within the parameters of the law,” Ruto said. Ruto also directed the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) not to award government tenders to private security firms that fail to pay guards the statutory minimum wage. The president also directed firms to remit mandatory National Social Security Fund contributions on behalf of their employees, warning that failure to do so robbed workers of retirement savings. The sector employs hundreds of thousands of Kenyans, many of whom have faced poor working conditions and failure by employers to remit statutory deductions. Watchmen or private security officers? In other news, President William Ruto directed government agencies to stop referring to private security personnel as “watchmen” or “guards” and instead use the title “private security officers.” Ruto said the terms were colonial-era labels that undermined the dignity of private security officers and ordered that they be removed from official documents and legislation. He directed that the Private Security Regulatory Authority Act, the General Wages Order, the Private Security Wages Order and the Private Security Regulation Act be amended to reflect the new terminology. The relevant government agencies and representatives of private security officers are expected to implement the changes and submit a progress report to the president within 60 days.
