The management of the trouble-ridden Security and Courier Services firm, Wells Fargo Ltd is pointing accusing fingers at some unnamed government officials in the security sector for influencing the Private Security Regulatory Authority (PSRA) not to register them under the new regulations.
Sources told The Weekly Visio that the Wells Fargo management was in good books with the previous administration of President Uhuru Kenyatta but are now being blocked from operating in the country.
The security company is one of several firms that have not been listed by PSRA; they cannot therefore operate in the country having failed to meet all the requirements. The management is now between a rock and a hard place, whether they will ever do business or close up shop altogether. Closing down the business is likely to render thousands of Kenyans jobless. Wells Fargo has been in operation in the country for more than 45 years, employing over 3,000 guards and generating an annual turnover of Ksh.1.8 billion.
The matter has now found it was into the corridors of justice and according to court papers, Wells Fargo’s license application has been pending for nearly three years and despite numerous attempts to follow up with the PSRA, the company has yet to receive a response. The firm is now seeking a court order to compel the PSRA to issue them with a license.
In an affidavit, the company’s Managing Director, Richard Garth Baudry, stated that “Despite providing all the requested documents, complying with requirements of the Act (Private Security Regulation Act), and following up with the respondent on numerous occasions on the status of its application, the applicant is yet to receive any response.”
However, High Court Judge Jairus Ngaah, denied the company’s request for an urgent hearing, stating that although the company claims PSRA delayed the processing of the license, Wells Fargo did not move to court at the earliest opportunity.
