Bouncers face vetting, licensing after shisha joint attack

Bouncers at Kettle House in Kilimani Nairobi arrested by police during a raid at the club. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

Plans are underway to vet and train bouncers in the country and license them so that they can be identified as professionals.

The Authority's directive comes days after a group of bouncers attacked journalists and the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) staff.

The incident happened at a popular joint in Lavington where the team were in the area on crackdown on joints selling Shisha.

"In view of the foregoing, the government has commenced the mandatory nationwide security vetting, training and licensing of all bouncers, bodyguards," PSRA Director General Fazul Mahamad noted in statement on January 9.

Also targeted are event stewards, door supervisors, event security, VIP protection, close protection, and crowd control security personnel

In a statement, the Authority said some of the incidents could have been avoided with knowledge of how to handle them.

The Director General stated that PSRA is charged with the responsibility of regulating the Private Security Industry in accordance with the law and the values and principles set out in the Constitution.

For this reason, the Authority has organised a sensitisation forum where those in charge of the target group will engage PSRA for planning on how .

"The training will be escalated to other regions," Fazul statement reads in part.

Police say there have been increased incidents where security personnel and bouncers were involved in violent scuffles that left many injured and others robbed.