The Role of Private Security

Posted: April 3rd, 2016

By Tony Sahni

Tony Sahni is a career professional in the Security Industry with more than 25 years of experience at Securex Agencies LTD as the Group Managing Director. Under his tenure, Securex has been able to grow steadily and spread throughout Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Sahni served two consecutive terms as the Chairman of the Kenya Security Industry Association (KSIA). He also led UNIACE Limited and Oceanbrook Limited in the UK.Tony Sahni is a career professional in the Security Industry with more than 25 years of experience at Securex Agencies LTD as the Group Managing Director. Under his tenure, Securex has been able to grow steadily and spread throughout Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Sahni served two consecutive terms as the Chairman of the Kenya Security Industry Association (KSIA). He also led UNIACE Limited and Oceanbrook Limited in the UK.

Terrorism has emerged as a global threat to security. We might not be able to fully grasp the complexity of the matter until we look at it on a global scale. Belgium is the latest country in Europe to be hit by cowardly acts of terror. The private security industry has always been front and center in the War on Terror. Guards are often the ones stationed at the entrances to facilities which terrorists view as “soft targets” (hospitals, shopping malls, schools, government buildings, hotels, etc.).

In Kenya, we have our own challenges to deal with, namely al-Shabaab and crime. The country records nearly 70,000 incidences of criminal activity annually. Government forces are stretched thin in an attempt to serve more than 44 million Kenyans. The role of the private security industry in ensuring the continued growth of Kenya’s economy is one that is often downplayed. It starts from how guards are perceived by the rest of the society, who is perhaps not aware of the lengths to which these individuals – these brave men and women – would go to, to protect civilians.

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