Hiring someone to stand close to you and your family is a decision about trust. You are giving access to your movements, your home, and your private life. A good officer is invisible when things are calm and decisive when they are not. A poor one is a liability.
Before you sign anything, ask these nine questions. The answers will tell you far more than a brochure.
1. Are you registered and licensed?
Private security providers in Kenya are regulated. Ask to see the company’s registration and any licences that apply to the work. A reputable firm will show them without hesitation. If the answer is vague, move on.
2. How do you select and vet your officers?
Ask how people are recruited, what background checks are done, and how references are verified. The person guarding you should have a clean, verified history. Ask whether the officers assigned to you are employees or casual hires.
3. What training have your officers had?
Close protection is a specialist skill. Ask what training the officer has completed, how recent it is, and whether it includes first aid, defensive driving, emergency response, and use of force. Ask about refresher training. Skills fade.
4. Are your officers insured?
If something goes wrong, who is liable? Ask for confirmation of the company’s insurance, including cover for its personnel and for third-party liability. Request details in writing.
5. How is the team supervised?
An officer working alone, with no supervisor, no check-ins, and no reporting, is a single point of failure. Ask who supervises the assignment, how often they check in, and how incidents are reported and reviewed.
6. What happens if my officer is sick, tired, or unavailable?
Continuity matters. Ask about replacement cover and how a handover works. You should never be left unprotected, and you should never have to brief a stranger from scratch.
7. How do you protect my confidentiality?
Your schedule, address, and family details are valuable. Ask what confidentiality terms bind the company and its personnel, and how information is stored and shared. Ask about social media rules for officers. A serious firm has clear answers and puts them in the contract.
8. What is your track record, and can I speak to anyone?
Genuine clients often cannot be named, and a good firm will respect that. But it should be able to describe the kind of work it has done and arrange a discreet reference, or at least explain how it assesses quality. Be wary of firms that make large claims they cannot support.
9. What does the contract say, and how do I exit?
Read the contract. Check the scope of work, the hours, the chain of command, the escalation process, the fees, and the termination terms. A fair contract protects both sides and makes it easy to leave if the service does not meet the standard.
What to watch for beyond the questions
- Judgment and temperament. Good protection officers are calm, observant, and unremarkable. They do not perform.
- Fit. You will be around this person constantly. Meet them. Trust your sense of whether they are discreet and respectful.
- Adaptability. Ask how they dress and behave across different settings, from a boardroom to a family event. The best protection often blends in.
- Honesty about limits. A good provider tells you what protection can and cannot do. If someone promises absolute safety, they are selling, not protecting.
Start with an assessment, not a package
A responsible provider asks about your life first: where you live, how you move, who is around you, and what concerns you. Protection that is not built around your actual exposure is just expensive presence.
If you would like to speak privately about what you need, request a confidential briefing. You can also see how our close protection service works.
FAQ
How many officers do I need?
It depends on your risk, your movements, and your household. An assessment, not a standard package, should decide this.
Should the bodyguard be visible or discreet?
That depends on the setting and your preference. Visible protection can deter. Discreet protection avoids drawing attention. Many arrangements use both.
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