Private security companies - A bourgeoning business left unregulated
Kwesi Nyamekye (not his real name) is a junior high school graduate from Koforidua in the Eastern, who, after completion in 2013, travelled to Accra in search of greener pastures.
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After a few stints with menial jobs in other parts of the capital, Kwesi landed a job at Golden Panthers, a defunct private security company, mid-last year, to provide security services at the signed to the head office of the Graphic Communications Group Limited at Adabraka.
Late last, Panthers were acquired by Delta Security Services Limited, automatically making him an employee of the latter
Through fiscal discipline and hard work, he has been able to save part of his salary, which he uses to support in the upkeep and payment of school of his siblings.
Despite the tedious nature of his job, which involves securing the properties of the Graphic Group under his care, Kwesi is grateful for the employment window, a venture that helps him keep body and soul together.
Fortunately, however, he is not alone; he is one of 750 people currently employed by Delta, whose operations span the nooks and cranny of the country.
But while Kwesi may be fortunate to have a formal employment that pays for his Social Security Contributions, the industry that employs him is not that fortunate; Its operations have been left unregulated for years, resulting in a vacuum for people and institutions interested in providing security for businesses.
This is dangerous for national security and disingenuous to investments in the sector, says Captain Anthony Kwesi Acquah (rtd), the Chairman of the Association of Private Security Organisations of Ghana (ASPOG).
“We think that there should be some molecule of sanity in the business but that cannot happen if we do not have a policy framework and a regulator,” Cap Acquah, who owns Delta Securities, explained.
Makeshift measures
The absence of regulatory framework for the sector has given birth to some makeshift measures by government and the operators to try to keep their activities in check as they wait for formal institution.
One of them is the formation of the ASPOG, which formed by like-minds to provide self-check for companies in the security services business.
Although the association has, over the years, chalked some gains, its operations have been constrained by the voluntary nature of membership.
Out of the 1,053 companies licensed to provide private security services in the country, only 60 of them belong to the group.
“Those that are not members are on their own and they do whatever they like. This is where the challenge is and it should be of concern to us because this is an industry whose operations border on national security too,” the chairman added.
Over the years, Cap Acquah said security agencies in the country have relied on members of ASPOG in the fight against crime yet fail to push for a regulatory framework to formalise their operations.
The worse culprit, he said was the Ministry of Interior, which licenses the companies.
Currently, a licence to operate a security company cost GH¢5,000 and that is subject to annual renewal at a cost of GH¢2,000.
Beyond taking the money from members, the ministry and its agencies does virtually nothing to support their operations, forcing the members to fend for themselves.
For an industry that employs over 20,000 people nationwide and contributes substantially to the internally generated funds of the ministry, it is difficult to understand why the country will be reluctant in regulating its activities.
Fruitless efforts
Since 2010, the ASPOG has been pushing for a regulatory framework, which it says will help make the business appealing to investors and their customers.
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That push has yielded less results, with the Ministry of Interior still relying on a footnote in the Police Service Act, 1970 (Act 350), for the registration and regulation of private security firms in Ghana.
This has made the registration of such firms very bureaucratic and cumbersome, a challenge that dampens investments in the sector.
To help reduce the bureaucracies and make private security operations appealing investors, the Business Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund in 2015 joined hands with the ASPOG to increase pressure on the government and get it to come out with a policy for the sector.
The partnership is still in its hay days but promises to yield results in few soon.
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In the coming days, the chairman of ASPOG said the association and its partners would continue to negotiate on the matter.
But while that happens, the country would have to realise that any delay in regulating the operations of private security service providers has dire consequences on national security and employment creation.
A more viable private security sector that is well regulated with a defined scope of service is what the country should be pushing for.
If that is achieved, it will help minimise the declining investor interest in the business for the companies to expand and employ more people.
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