Members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Security in the Chamber of Deputies have requested the government to set up strict conditions for foreign private firms that seek to open shop in Rwanda.
The request was made on Tuesday, March 10, as the lawmakers scrutinised the draft law governing private security services in Rwanda.
The draft law, with five chapters and 40 articles seeks to replace the one of 19/08/2014.
The MPs propose that foreign private security firms seeking to operate in Rwanda must cede some stake to allow local investors to own shares in them.
"Such (foreign private security) company should also include a Rwandan in a top management position. We should make sure security interests of Rwandans are served,” MP Solange Uwingabire said.
The Minister for Internal Security, Gen. Patrick Nyamvumba, told MPs that forcing foreign private companies to have Rwandan shareholders in their businesses could discourage foreign investments in the country.
"What we guarantee is to strengthen oversight on such firms so that they provide quality security services,” he said.
Foreign firms are also obliged to employ Rwandan nationals as security guards.
Under the new bill, a foreign security firm is required to have Rwf700 million as the value of its assets in order to secure an operating license.
At least Rwf200 million of that value is supposed to be cash deposited in a local bank.
The amount, the minister said, is meant to guarantee payment for security guards at least for a period of six months in case the contractors or clients delay to pay.
Meanwhile, MP Sandrine Aime Uwambabaje, tasked the ministry to make sure that the law compels all private security firms to pay their workers good salaries and on time as well as paying for their health insurance.
"The law should make sure that standards of security guard workers’ welfare and safety are set up and that all companies follow the same guidelines,” she said.
She also asked whether the proposed law caters for dispute resolution (between the security guard and the employer), for instance, when a client’s property is stolen despite the presence of security guards.
"For instance, what happens if a security guard is killed while on duty? Who pays, if say, a business is when there are security guards on duty?” she asked.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Jean Népomuscène Mbonyumuvunyi, the Commissioner for Private Security Service Providers at Rwanda National Police said that to ensure all companies follow guidelines for security guards’ welfare, the new ones will have to present the required assets while the existing ones will be given time to upgrade their standards.
The bill also seeks to address the lack of professionalism in the industry, which officials say is caused by limited investments, insufficient training of security guards as well as low pay.
These challenges, they say, have forced security guards to engage into criminal activities such as theft.