Our Private Security Firms are wanting

Last weekend I walked with a lady friend of mine into one of Nairobi’s outstanding malls. As the norm, at the main gates we walked past a tight private security personnel inspecting vehicles entering the mall’s public parking. At the building’s entrances were more security personnel armed with scanners and metal detectors inspecting each and everybody entering the business hub.

What scared me was that my companion didn’t have her handbag checked- they just let her proceed. For a second I was so shocked. I couldn’t let this happen. I approached one of the guards and spilt my concern.

“Seriously, is anybody safe in here? Because I can’t understand a situation where a person like me carrying nothing could be so keenly inspected and a lady with a whole ‘sack-like’ handbag have it not screened. It’s common sense, a person carrying a bag like her could be smuggling a weapon!”

The guards had to call her back and have the bag thoroughly inspected. I was a little satisfied although an argument later ensued; with her wanting to know how could I just create a scene in front of so many people to have her bag inspected.

It couldn’t make sense to me. How could I be checked to ensure that am clean and then let me enter an unsafe place? It’s like disarming a cop and then tossing him into a battlefield!

Am sure am not the only one who has observed this. I mean, how many times have you been checked with ‘dead’ metal detectors or by totally inexperienced personnel?

I don’t want to sound like a street prefect because am not one but it’s so unfortunate that innocent people chroming public gathering places like churches, malls, classes just to mention but a few, are entrusting their safety to these kind of unprofessional security service contractors.