Push for international accreditation: Security firms seek improved standards, salaries 

Uganda’s private security companies are preparing to obtain internationally recognized accreditation certificates, aiming to enhance their competitive standing beyond national borders and improve workplace safety, employee salaries and human rights protections.

To support this initiative, the International Code of Conduct Association (ICoCA), the Geneva-based global body responsible for accrediting private security firms, has dispatched experts to train over 70 directors and senior managers from Uganda’s private security sector.

“Working with ICoCA, we are training our directors and senior managers to meet international standards and achieve accreditation as individual companies and for their staff,” said Grace Matsiko, chairman of the Uganda Private Security Association (TUPSA).

Matsiko explained that this training, part of a partnership between TUPSA and ICoCA, focuses on workforce welfare, including salaries, workplace safety, human rights, and professionalism.

“We are grateful to ICoCA for selecting Uganda among other countries in the region to benefit from this training and international accreditation,” he added.

In response to public concerns about the training quality of security personnel, TUPSA has implemented various programs to improve skills and address criticisms. In partnership with Uganda’s police, TUPSA has trained over 300 private security guards in counterterrorism techniques.

Additionally, over 100 directors and senior managers completed a month-long training at the Institute of Intelligence and Security Studies, an academy under the Internal Security Organisation, on an island near Entebbe.

The association’s efforts have also extended to training in labor laws, retirement planning, and financial literacy to improve the overall competency and welfare of Uganda’s private security workforce.