Meet a 28 Yr Old With a 6 to 6 Job Earning a Monthly Salary of ONLY Ksh5,500

By Jane Gakaria,

Meet 28 year old, Robert Ojiambo, a security guard at a premise in Westlands. A typical day for him starts with waking up at his Kawangware residence at 5.30 a.m. He prays first, prepares himself and leaves quietly so as not to wake his wife and his two toddler children. From there he boards a matatu to Westlands and is at his work station by 6 a.m.

He says, not much is a buzz that early, so he simply waits by his ground floor desk station for people to trickle in to their offices. In between he ensures visitors sign in correctly as to which offices they are visiting in the visitor log book. He tells me he occasionally takes a peep at the parking lot to ensure things are running as smooth as they should be and no criminals are abound.

Born and bred in Khulunyu village, Busia, Robert has had quite the difficult life. I lost my father at a young age and dropped out of school after standard eight.” In order to help out with income, he got a job as a boda boda driver, back in his village. Eventually, he decided to switch careers to something more practical. “And security guard it was,” he says with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.

He has been a certified security guard since 2008. Question is, does his job have any benefits or is it plagued with numerous challenges?

The first challenge that springs to his mind is his meager salary of 5500/= per month.

Yes, you read right 5500/= PER MONTH! ‘Mshahara ni ndogo sana na inabidi mtu ajinyime kabisa ndio itoshee’. (The salary is so little that if forces one to mice so that it may last). His wife also sells fish and vegetables to try and supplement his income but it’s still not enough.

Secondly, this is something you;ve heard from time immemorial.‘Hatuna baton, whistle ama metal detector.’ He says adding that it’s quite hard for him to do his job, let alone protect a whole building without the proper tools.

Thirdly, long working hours with no off days. He works everyday from 6 a.m-6 p.m, even on weekends and holidays with no breaks.

‘Kazi yetu ni ngumu sana na hata hizo saa hazisaidii.’ (The work is quite hard and the long hours don’t make it any easier).

Fourthly, it’s all about low morale. Doing such a high risk job with ‘low returns’ is quite demoralizing. It doesn’t help that doing such a redundant job has led him to being less alert and on most days finds himself daydreaming.

What about the benefits of his job? I probe…. he says that they are only two. One, since he’s a people person, he does enjoy interacting with the many guests who walk into the building and seek his help. Secondly, there is no strict supervision. There’s no one on his back to ensure he does his job. He knows what to do and how to do it.

Given the chance would he switch careers? ‘Eeh, hiyo ni swali kweli?! Si ndio!’(Is that really a question? Of course yes). He states that he would love to open up his own clothing store. From there he would work extra hard and ensure he opened several branches across the country.

Does he have any career goals? He says he would like it if one day, after he rises up the ranks, to open his own security firm to train guards on how to be the best.

And his parting shot “Respect us, don’t be rude and simply comply with us when asked to.” Also if you’ve had the chance to receive a proper education, make sure you make the most of it, for there are some of us who would wish to be in your position.”

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