By Crispina Taylor
Member of Parliament, MP, representing Constituency 105 in central Freetown, Ibrahim Kamara, has accused insurance companies of misappropriating monies paid to them as contributions by agencies and individuals.
Making his submission at a pre-legislative meeting on a bill titled: “The Insurance Act of 2015”, Kamara said vehicle owners paid contributions to insurance companies only because it was a legal obligation, noting that most survivors and relatives of deceased in accident situations received no compensation.
This situation, Kamara said, had resulted in vehicle owners and drivers settling accident matters in the streets instead of going to insurance companies for financial claims.
“A lot has to be done by insurance companies in sensitizing the public on how to get their claims,” the MP observed.
Member of Parliament for Constituency 75 in Bo District, Helen Kuyembeh, questioned the head of insurance commission on his institution’s failure to deposit into the consolidated fund fines and other sums of money collected from defaulting insurance companies.
The MP thereby called on parliament to have a system in which the commission would retain a prescribed percentage of the revenue it generates and be made to deposit part of it into state coffers.
In response to the allegations of misappropriation made by the MP, Commissioner of Sierra Leone Insurance Commission, Augustus Kanu, said most victims or survivors of risks recognized by insurance companies had failed to present their financial claims to insurance companies.
“Insurance companies pay those who make claims to them,” Kanu said. He further explained that it was the main reason the insurance commission was set up in 2012 to prevent such anomalies.
However, the insurance commissioner, while defending insurance companies, canvassed the support of parliamentarians to amend the Insurance Act of 2000 which, he said, contained provisions that were “obsolete.”
“The proposed law must be passed,” Kanu urged parliamentarians. He highlighted key proposals including compulsorily insuring public buildings (schools, colleges, entertainment centres, etc.). The amendment would also oblige employers with more than five employees to insure their workers, and compulsorily insuring buildings above two storeys under construction, among others.
The inclusion of these proposals, he said, would ensure that insurance companies meet “international best practice.”
Experts present at the deliberations shared their experiences with MPs in an interactive session, emphasizing that the proposed amendments, particularly those relating to the new fees ranging from Le300 million to Le 480 million as share capital to set up an insurance company, should be adopted so that insurance companies would be “credible businesses.”
While making a case for the enactment of the bill into law minister of finance, Dr Kaifala Marah, said they had earlier tabled a document before parliament titled: “Parliamentary Motion for the Ratification of the Insurance Act, 2015.”
The document outlined several reasons for the passage of the insurance bill into law. These reasons border on the inadequate statutory sum of Le15 million (US$2,600) to set up an insurance company in Sierra Leone as compared to Nigeria, Ghana and the Gambia with the legal requirement of US$15million, US$5million, US$700,000 respectively.
Besides, the document captures the limited paid-up share capital of Le25 million, the absence of compulsory provision to insure certain risks, inadequacy of penalties and fines for defaulting companies, among others.
“On all insurance mentioned in the Insurance Act, failure shall be a criminal offence punishable under the Act with a fine not less than Le10 million or a term of imprisonment of two years with the power reserved to the commission to seal or close the employer’s premises before and after conviction until compliance with the court order,” the document reads in part.
In a related development, interim chairman of the Sierra Leone overseas employment agency, Akim Bangura, with his executive has presented the Labour Committee in parliament with a letter stating reasons why they wanted the ban lifted on the recruitment of young people for Middle East jobs. One of the key reasons highlighted in the letter was the high rate of unemployment the ban has created.
“The detention of most youths at Pademba Road Correctional Center is a result of not being allowed to go for overseas employments,” Bangura explained.
He condemned the allegations being circulated on social media that young Sierra Leonean women recruited as part of the overseas employment scheme had been turned into prostitutes as “baseless and untrue.” Bangura said his agency was registered with the ministry of labour, social security and employment, arguing that it was a “legitimate entity.”
He told parliament that there were “illegitimate organisations” that recruited people through the back door which, he said, was the cause of the problem.
While trying to convince parliamentarians to lift the ban, Bangura defended his agency as having proof that most people that had been recruited were working happily in the host countries.
(C) Politico 01/03/16
