Africa Guardian

​Dar es Salaam:

​ Warrior Security, which handles security for the United Nations Mission In South Sudan (UNMISS) has appointed its first ever female Field Officer in the country, raising the role of women in the security industry in South Sudan, against a backdrop of male dominance.

This comes amid successes for women in the firm’s Tanzanian base, where they play a vital role at the top brass of Warrior Security, notably Maia Tesha-Bardino (human resource consultant) Devotha Balyagati (sales and marketing manager), serving as an inspiration to women in the firm’s regional operations.

Stella Vincent, Warrior Security’s first female field officer, was appointed on May 26 in Juba, South Sudan, and is currently deployed at the Juba UNMISS Compound. She joined Warrior Security as a guard in 2008 just after finishing her basic schooling, in a country where the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reports that only 16 per cent of women can read and write. Women comprise approximately 48 per cent of the total population according to the South Sudan National Bureau of Statistics.

The exclusion of women from economy building has been propagated by lingering elements of traditions, most notably early marriages, which result in school drop outs. In Tanzania, a vast 40 percent of women are illiterate, according to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) statistics and consequently locked out of formal employment.

Stella’s progress at Warrior Security is thus a remarkable stride in the advancement of women in Africa’s youngest nation, at a time when security studies show women, in comparison to men, are capable of achieving similar results in response to violent crime situations, are less likely to behave unprofessionally and can sustain attendance records as impressive as their male counterparts, and are able to earn as much respect from citizens as men. Warrior Security has made it a priority across its operations in Africa to promote women.

For Stella, this has made for a stellar path of promotions. Two years after joining Warrior Security group and serving in various guard posts, Stella was made senior guard at Save the Children, an NGO, where she served for another year. In July 2013, when Warrior Security was awarded the UNMISS contract, Stella was once again promoted to Supervisor at the UNMISS Juba compound, and when hostilities broke out in December 2013, she was assigned the task of supervising guards at the compound’s western gate which proved challenging when Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) started seeking safety.

“It was a tough gate, the worst,” relates Stella. “There would be yelling, people fighting each other, even after they came into the compound.” She however stood her ground refusing to bend the rules. “Sometimes they would insist on bringing in uninspected luggage, and I would refuse. They would argue and abuse me verbally, but I wanted to obey the post orders.”

One time Stella and her field officer were beaten up by a crowd, until she fell to the ground, covering her face while they continued to beat her. “I had bad chest and back pains for four days, but I loved my job and I was committed to following the rules. Yet another time I was slapped so hard I got dizzy. I convinced myself to cool down, and I continued working.”

Stella’s unfaltering commitment resulted in the IDPs nicknaming her “Nyam Nyam”, a local term for someone who is very stubborn.

“I once heard them say in their local language that they were going to beat the Nyam Nyam very hard,” Stella recalls, to which she responded, “You just come and beat me, but I will not lose my job because of you. I cannot break the rules.” She reminded them that they were IDPs and they needed to show appreciation to those who were intent on helping them.

With that background in mind, when the firm was in need of more field officers, Stella Vincent was “an easy choice to make,” according to Warrior Security’s Assistant Operations Manager, Patrick Ouma, also a South Sudanese who started out as a guard.

“Her performance is outstanding. She knows what is supposed to be done. She took an interest in reading all the UNMISS security policies and adheres strictly to the post orders,” Patrick goes on to say of Stella.

Warrior Security is a leading security management provider in Northern Tanzania. It maintains a state of the art control room in Arusha, monitoring and coordinating guards, alarms, CCTV and vehicle surveillance all over Tanzania. The company was founded in Arusha in 2006 by Major Tony Sugden, who resides in the city. Warrior Security has invested in the recruitment of women security guards and enabled them reach unprecedented highs in in its ranks, dispelling the myth that such jobs are a preserve for men. Besides Tanzania and South Sudan, the firm’s reach extends to Malawi, Zambia and DR Congo.

Stella Vincent has demonstrated strength and integrity while striving to be the best. There is a glimmer of hope as in her role, Stella is an example of what women in South Sudan are poised to achieve with a narrowing of the gender gap through women empowerment.