Lead petitioner Joseph Ssali Friday told media that some of his colleagues are now involved in illegal acts to survive.
Security guards from a private Ugandan security firm have petitioned authorities in Mukono City over their delayed salaries.
In the petition addressed to the district’s labour officer, Ms Doreen Belinda, fifteen complainants from Centurion Security Group said: “We have finished three months without salary.”
In a July 21 petition, they added: “Whenever we ask the firm’s Mukono branch manager Mr Denis Nabasa to pay our salaries, he tells us that the Centurian Security Ltd managing director has loans and we are victims.”
Lead petitioner Joseph Ssali Friday said that some of his colleagues are now involved in illegal acts to survive.
“I hear some guards were asked to use their guns in ‘a smart way’ to survive, but that means stealing, which we don’t want,” he said.
We also learnt that the company’s contract with Devon Petrol Station located in Mukono District was recently terminated after one of the private security guards allegedly robbed Shs1m from the cashier’s office.
“After stealing the money, the security guard left the gun with a colleague and disappeared from the station,” Devon Petrol Station sales manager Hajj Baker Mukasa claimed.
Some of the guards say they demand salary arrears ranging between Shs170,000 to Shs510,000 .
“It is true some employees are demanding salary arrears for three months and the company director is working tirelessly to clear those arrears,” Mr Nabasa said.
Mukono labour officer Ms Belinda acknowledged the petition but was yet to address the concerns of the complainants.
“By the time they delivered the letter, I wasn’t in office. I am waiting for them to do a follow up so that I can write to their employer,” she said.
Meantime, Centurion Security Group denied reports that some of its employees are involved in criminal activities the Greater Mukono area that has recently been affected by armed robberies.
In a recent security meeting, the Mukono Resident District Commissioner, Ms Fatumah Nabitaka Ndisaba, advised business owners to be careful while hiring private security guards.
“Some are ill-trained while others have bad track records,” she warned.
