Dar es Salaam
Behind every company there is a team of dedicated personnel to ensure the smooth running of the Company. Knight Support is proud to introduce you to some of the Team here in Dar es Salaam who look after our clients in all our Emergency Response Services.
- David Sutton
David Sutton. Managing Director.
David is the brains behind Knight Support. He is a Kenyan citizen, fluent in Swahili, with over 22+ years of experience in the Security business.
He started in the Security business in 1986 to 1988 as Technical and Operations Manager where he set up and assisted in the formation of Ultimate Security and undertook the daily running of the company including the recruitment, customer liaison and overseeing alarm installations.
From 1989 until 1998 he was with Group Four Security as Operations Manager working his way up to General Manager and finally as Group General Manager.
During this time David saw a huge gap in the services being provided by other security companies and in 1999 he, along with his wife, set up their own Security Company, KNIGHT SUPPORT (T) Ltd and in doing so they were the pioneers of introducing Ambulance and Fire Response Services in the private security sector.
David is married to Christina (Tina) and together they have three gorgeous children, Kelly, Courtenay and Timmey.
- John Metzger
John Metzger, Technical Director.
John joined Knight Support in April 1999 as Technical Director. He has played an integral part of the set up of the Technical and Operational aspect of Knight Support.
He is a Canadian National but grew up in Dar es Salaam. He speaks English, Kiswahili, Italian, French and German fluently. He also holds a Private Pilot Licence.
He has over 20 years experience in the Security business.
John acts as Liaison between Knight Support and the Local Authorities ensuring professional working relationships are maintained at all times.
- Tina Sutton
Christina (Tina) Sutton – Executive Administrator/Financial Controller.
Is a Kenyan Citizen of British origin and a fluent Swahili speaker. Tina was Sales & Marketing Executive for BAC Leasing, UK in the Air Charter Division. She came to Tanzania in 1990 when she worked with Castlecroft Duty Free. In 1992 she went to work with ODA, a section of the BHC coordinating projects and ensuring project managers housed etc. She married David in 1994.
In 1999 set up and supported the formation of KNIGHT SUPPORT (T) ltd and has been primarily involved in the administration, accounts department and human resources.
Tina manages and co-ordinates the medical evacuations for all road and air medical evacuations. She is the backbone of the company specialising in the co-ordination of the Ambulance and Fire Departments.
Tina arranges all the visiting personnel from the UK Fire and Ambulance Teams. She also co-ordinates visiting Police personnel from the UK for our security teams.
- John Hope
John Hope – General Manager.
John has been involved in the Security Industry for over 20+ years, 7 of which are with Knight Support. A fluent Swahili speaker.
He was the Security Manager of the African Safari Company, Kenya for 14 years. During that time he was an active member of the Kenyan Police reserve as Inspector. He was also very heavily involved in the Rallying circuit but don’t worry Knight Support does not let him drive the response vehicles here.
John runs a great team at Knight Support and all the staff enjoy working with him. His outgoing personality and management skills make him a great leader and he enjoys a good rapport with clients and staff alike. He has even been known to entertain the client when they visit the office with an Elvis number – so please – you have been warned!
- Rhona Potgieter
Rhona Potgieter – Assistant General Manager.
Rhona has 14 years experience of Health Services Management working with the Argyll & Bute NHS in Scotland. Yes she is Scottish and speaks a little Swahili but fluent in Glaswegian! She was part of the Project Management Team for the building and commissioning of the Lorn & Islands District General Hospital, a 138 Acute Bedded Hospital. She was the administrator in the implementation of HACCP and Health & Safety Co-ordinator for the Trust.
Rhona came to Dar to manage and commission a beach Hotel in Jangwani area but soon realised that she missed being part of the Health Services. Rhona joined Knight Support in 2004 as our Health Services Support Manager. She and Tina run the administration side of Knight Support and she takes a lead role in the running of the Ambulance and Fire Departments.
Rhona is an Emergency Response Instructor and takes active ‘casualty’ parts in all training conducted by the visiting UK personnel – this is mainly due to her Thespian tendencies and she is also the loudest person in the company so the rescue teams can always find her!
- Sophie Buckman
Sophie Buckman, Sales & Marketing Manager.
Sophie has been in Tanzania for 9 years and joined Knight Support in 2006.
Sophie arranges all the adverts you see of Knight Support in all the magazines in her role as Sales and Marketing Manager. Her talent in design is limitless – so much so she has been put in charge of ensuring the Web page is up to date and gets to act as Company Photographer at all events and some of the incidents we attend.
Sophie is in charge of First Responder in Tanzania. She also helps arrange and assist in coordinating air evacuations.
Sophie is in charge of arranging all First Aid and Fire training for both our clients and non-clients. Sophie is a fully trained First Responder.
- Luciano Folli
Luciano Folli, Senior Operations Manager.
Luciano (Luch) is a Tanzanian Citizen of Italian origin. Luciano has been in the industry for 16+ years.
He has worked for Security Group and Ultimate but came to join David at Knight Support. He is fluent in Swahili, English and Italian and has a good knowledge of French and Spanish.
He started his career with Knight Support as a Junior Operations Manager and through his work is now running the Operations Department for Knight Support.
Luch is also heavily involved with Special Task Force duties and also very much involved in the recruitment and personnel aspect of Knight Support.
He may be the smallest part of our team in height but he certainly makes up for it with his big personality and dedication to his work.
- Kamby Matuga
Matuga Kambi, Sector 1 Operations Manager.
Matuga has been in the Security Industry for 13 years.
He has been with Knight Support since the beginning in 1999. He is fluent in Swahili and English. His gentle persona and HUGE cheeky smile makes him a massive hit with all of his clients in Sector 1 and all of Knight Support staff.
Through his dedication, diligence and hard work he was promoted to the rank of Sector Manager and is presently looking after the residential area between Tangi Bovu and Bagamoyo.
Matuga is trained to UK standards in the Tactics and Objectives of Security Searching and Rescue Procedures. He is also a trained Bodyguard and Close Protection Officer. Matuga is also an Instructor in UK Baton and Handcuffing Procedures.
- Michael Martin
MICHAEL MARTIN SEMBIZI, Sector 2 Operations Manager.
Michael is fluent in Swahili and English. He has been with Knight Support for 8+ years working in the Operations Department. Through his extremely professional and dedicated work practices Michael was promoted to Operations Manager in July 2008.
Michael is trained to UK standards in the Tactics and Objectives of Security Searching and Rescue Procedures. He is also a trained Bodyguard and Close Protection Officer. Michael is also an Instructor in UK Baton and Handcuffing Procedures.
Michael is a great hit with his clients who find his gentle demeanor very calming particularly when they are dealing with any incident which the client finds distressing.
- John Mamakos
John Mamakos. Sector 3 Operations Manager.
John was born in Dar-es-Salaam and has lived most of his life in Tanzania. John speaks fluent Swahili, English and Greek.
He has 8+ years in the security management and has been in the commercial / private security industry since the year 2000. He has worked for Ultimate Security, KK Security and Security Group as operations manager. He joined Knight Support at the end of year 2006.
His sector-3 operations team is made up of senior officers who are retired army officers, and form-6 leavers and some senior officers have been at sector-3 since the year 2000.
- Sameer Virji
Sameer Virji – Sector 4 Operations Manager.
Sameer has been with Knight Support for 7+ years in Knight Support.
He speaks fluent English, Kutchi and Swahili.
Sameer is the manager who looks after our Vodacom Clients. He looks after all Dar es Salaam Voda sites, shops and warehouses and also all residential properties pertaining to the Vodacom contract.
He has just become a father to a bouncing baby boy in September 2008.
- Amin Virji
Amin Virji, Technical Manager/Guards Co-Ordinator Up Country
Amin has worked with Knight Support for 9 years. He speaks fluent English, Swahili, Hindi, Kutchi and Gujarati. (or so he tells us!)
He spends most of his working life up country looking after clients in Arusha, Dodoma, Mbeya, Mwanza, Tanga and Mtwara. This makes life very peaceful in the office at HQ in Dar.
His department is very diverse in that he looks after Upcountry Guards, all installations including electrical security and surveillance systems, Infra red Intruder Alarms, Pepper Spray Units, CCTV – the list is endless. Amin is also in charge of our Human Resources department and heads up the Recruitment Department.
- Reena Pandya
Reena Pandya, Corporate Liaison Manager.
Knight Support welcomes our newest addition to our family.
Reena joined us in September 2008. She is the Liaison Manager for our Corporate Clients.
She is proving to be a huge asset to us and we look forward to a long an happy working relationship with her.
Her dad, Deelip, also works with Knight Support.
- Bwiko Kyriakos and Irene Kamau
Irene Kamau and Bwiko Kyriakos - IT Department.
Both Irene and Bwiko have recently joined the Knight Support family in 2008.
They offer round the clock support for state of the art technology that is employed in running the various security and Asset Control and Tracking Systems (ACTS) that Knight Support offers.
Irene and Bwiko have a combined 10 years of experience in Information Technology. This is a formidable team and keeps Knight Support in the forefront of Information Technology.
- Phinney Dadu
Phiniace Dadu (Phinney) - Assistant Technical Manager
Phinney worked with another security company in Mwanza as a Technician for 6 months then Galux Video Centre as a technician. He then worked with Ashish Electronics and joined Knight Support in 2001 as a Technician. He became Assistant Technical Manager in 2002, and he manages a team of 12 technicians. He is married with 1 daughter and is fluent in English, Swahili, Sukuma, Hindi, Kutchi and Gujarati.
Phinney and his team specialise in the installation and maintenance of all electronic surveillance equipment including Intruder, Fire and CCTV systmens to name but a few.
- Dimitri
- Deelip
- The Mechanics
Dimitrios Pappadimitriou. Assistant Chief Operations Manager and Fleet Manager .
Dimi has 30 years in the workshop and 6 years in the security business. He speaks fluent English, Swahili and Greek.
He co-ordinates repairs and maintenance of all Knight Support vehicles and fire fighting equipment. He is assisted by a team of experienced and competent mechanics. The team have recently been joined by Deelip Pandya to look after the Fleet of Vehicles for Knight Support.
Dimi also arranges the recovery of client vehicles where repair cannot be carried out at that time. He also deals with operational matters by assisting the Chief Operations Manager to ensure a smooth running of day to day matters.
- Brian Fanthom
Emergency Response Services
Brian Fanthom, Chief Officer Fire and Paramedic Services; Tactical and Emergency Planning Advisor
Brian . Recently joined Knight Support from the UK having served with the Military Police and UK emergency services over thirty two years. He is a qualified Paramedic and has operated within special operations, Helicopter Services , Motorcycle and VIP protection. He has extensive managerial and emergency planning experience working as the officer in charge of some of the largest ambulance facilities within the West Midlands and providing ambulance representation at government level - a role which has taken him to a number of countries notably America after 9 /11 and dealing with contingency planning for a number of G8 conferences.
For the last two years he has been seconded to the UK department of health joint fire, police and ambulance centre focusing on chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear counter terrorism.
Here at Knight Support Brian will be providing managerial and strategic support to the fire and paramedic services taking up the role of chief officer for fire and paramedic services here in Tanzania and in Kenya
Off duty he enjoys scuba diving, a hobby he hopes to maximize here in Africa (the rest of the management team wonder when he is going to get time to do this!!)
- Billy Glad
- Ashante Mahundi
Fire Chief Billy Glad, Is the Senior Fire Officer who has been with Knight Support Fire & Rescue Service for 8 + years. He trained in the UK with Hereford and Worcester Fire Brigade, West Midland Fire Service, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and Surrey Fire & Rescue Service. Billy is a highly skilled Fire Chief, Instructor and leader – he is renowned for his training tactics
His second In Charge is FC2 Ashante Mahundi. Mahundi has been with Knight Support since 2001, he joined as a Fireman and worked his way up to a Crew Commander and then a Training Officer, and is now the Senior Fire Operations Officer. He is an Instructor in many fields including RTA, Water Rescue, High Level Rescue and BA.
All Knight Support Fire Officers have joint Training with UK Fire Brigades every six months of the year. The Training includes R.T.A, Rope Rescue, Collapse Buildings Rescue, Shoring, Water Rescue, Fire Fighting, Fire Awareness Training and Fire Warden Training. Fire Officer’s taking a break from Search & Rescue training with WMFS Sean Moore
- Felister Kimolo
- The Ambulance Crew
Lead Paramedic Co-ordinator FELISTER KIMOLO & her Ambulance Team: Felister is a Clinical Officer who joined Knight Support in 2004 as a paramedic. She has been the Senior Paramedic Coordinator for 2 years. She worked with the Heart Clinic for 2 years as a Clinician. She has been with Knight Support for 5+ years.
The Paramedic Team are a dedicated trained group of Medical Response personnel. They deal with minor injuries through to major trauma injuries. The team also deals with many Medical Evacuations from all over Tanzania e.g. the middle of the National Parks and Mount Kilimanjaro to stabilize and take them to the required Hospitals in Dar, Kenya, South Africa, etc.
- The Control Room Team (Ruta front middle, Hagila front right)
Control Room Team.
Felix H. Rutabingwa (Ruta) Control Room Manager (Training). Experiences: Senior Communications Officer. Aeronautical Instructor Civil Aviation. On retiring from the Tanzania Govt. Joined Knight Support as one of the first Control Room and worked with Knight Support for 10 years. .
Nsumba Hagila, Control Room Manager Operations, Has 6 years of experience working with Control Room in the Security Company. Has worked with Knight Support Company for 6+ years.
The Control Team is the heart of the Company. It is a communication hub linking the Company with our Clients and between the various departments of the Company
- Ombeni, Laurence and Team
- Rahma and Team
Administration, Accounts, Personnel and Human Resources Department.
Mr Ombeni Msuya has worked for Knight Support since July 1999. He is the Chief Accountant. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant.
Mr Laurence Mlaki, is the Senior Accountant and has worked for Knight Support since the doors opened in April 1999. Both these gentlemen run the extremely busy accounts department.
They and their team of dedicated staff ensure that your account is looked after.
Mr Ali Kambi, Personnel Officer, has worked with Knight Support fro 8+ years. He overseas the Personnel Department and is kept busy with the administrative and legal aspects of employing over 2000 employees.
Miss Rahma Nahdi, joined Knight Support in July 2008. She overseas all recruitment in Knight Support. She and her team ensure we have the correct calibre of staff to look after our clients.
- John Keto
- John & Lucky
And Finally ....
to complete the Knight Support Family we are delighted to introduce you to the longest member of the KS Team. John Keto is an Operations Officer and is always on watch at Knight Support HQ.
Keto was adopted by a little black kitten. Yes, we do mean that the kitten adopted Keto! Lucky has been with us for almost 2 years. They are rarely apart! You usually find Lucky sleeping on the nearest warmest bonnet of our vehicles at HQ.
Here is Keto and Lucky enjoying a quick cup of tea and some fish!