Kindly leave a comment and share
The Kenyan government is working to revise the country’s insurance law as it seeks to empower the industry regulator and increase accountability, including imposing penalties on directors and management of insurers who mismanage insurance companies.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u said last week that he had submitted to Parliament an Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2023 to introduce deterrent measures, including fines and penalties, reported Business Daily Africa.
According to the Bill, any shareholder, director, principal officer or management staff of an insurer who commits offences, including falsifying financial statements or stealing from an insurance company, will face a fine of up to KES5m ($36,000) or two years in prison. A repeat offence will lead to a fine of up to KES10m or five years in prison, according to the Bill.
The Insurance Act has been in place since 2008 and does not have “deterrent measures to motivate accountability” for directors and senior managers to uphold professional responsibility, he said. “To address this shortcoming, I have submitted to this House the Insurance Amendment Bill, 2023 to provide for offences relating to the management of an insurer,” said Prof Ndung’u.
He said, without giving details, the Bill will also contain other amendments aimed at enhancing IRA’s efficiency in supervising the industry.
