By Prince J Musa in Kenema
The Sierra Leone Insurance Commission has on the 27th May, 2021 formally opened a regional branch office in Kenema.
The Commissioner,Sierra Leone Insurance Commission, Arthur Yaskey told the audience that the commission will monitor the operations of Insurance Companies in accordance with the mandatory insurance policies.
He said as a regulatory body, the commission is part of the executive arm of government but is not under any MDA and that the commission has statutory powers to perform its functions through Parliamentary oversight.
Commissioner Yaskey stated that it’s the responsibility of the commission to ensure key compliance with the provisions of the insurance Act and to register insurance brokers doing business in Sierra Leone including protecting insurance policy holders and insurance beneficiaries with third party or any insurance contract.
He spoke about the presence now of a bureau that he said clients will channel their complaints against any insurance company, that will then be forwarded to the commission for action. The commission is further mandated to ensure the protection of public companies such as the NASSIT Plaza and any other government property against negative occurrences.
Yaskey hoped the commission will enhance public education on insurance in Kenema and the entire eastern region. He said people won’t have to come down to Freetown to complain since the bureau is now present there to address such matters. He said insurance companies are obliged to deposit certain amount of money at the central bank and in case of any default against a client, that could be utilized for compensation and spoke of the need to boost the confidence of the Police, Military and health workers with a good insurance scheme.
The President of the Sierra Leone Insurance Association, Raymond Macaulay disclosed that the event was an important move at decentralization and was hopeful it will also be extended to the southern and northern regions
He said the target of the commission is to ensure effective and efficient regulations of all insurance institutions operating in the country and to make sure that insurance companies operate ethically with the policies that permit their existence.
Macaulay stated that the decentralization will help to correct a lot of issues between the insurance companies and their clients.
Resident Minister East, Andrew Ansu Fatorma thanked officials of the commission for extending their services that was important as well as timely. He stated that the coming of the commission will help people to know about laws that regulate the activities of the insurance companies.
He said most of the insurances companies collecting dues from government workers do not have offices in Kenema and in the event of an emergency they cannot be located.
”Some of the insurance companies have ghost offices but they are more eager to collect money from the people’’ the minister affirmed.
The chairman Sierra Leone Teachers Union Kenema, Morison Moijueh Koroma said many teachers have suffered in the hands of some insurance companies that had persuaded the teachers to join their institutions but failed to honour their part of the agreement, with many teachers dying, with no compensation to their families.
This he said has prompted the Sierra Leone Teachers Union (SLTU) and the Teaching Service Commission to intervene to ensure the right process was duly followed.
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