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{
"id": 1157384,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Sakaja",
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"speaker": {
"id": 13131,
"legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, there is a huge issue around insurance. I have been talking to Passenger Service Vehicle (PSV) operators in Nairobi and recently, I talked to Mrs. Mary Mwangi of Double M buses. The woes that are facing that sector are critical. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, professionally, I understand insurance very well. It speaks to many issues including the kind of actuarial valuations being done for the premiums to be set because people are looking just for business, yet they are unable to properly underwrite a lot of this. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, of course, I have heard speakers trying to get excited about one company. It is a sector-wide issue that needs to be looked at. Many of unsuspecting Kenyans are paying premiums through brokers. So, those premiums are not reflecting and when they get accidents, they find that the actual insurance company does not know because they were not covered. They print fake stickers across the country. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, many Kenyans and colleagues in this House unsuspectingly have stickers on their windscreen but they are not insured. This is because they have not been told how to verify the insurance that they get through a short code or QR code, that is provided for in that sticker. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, additionally, there was an increase of these rates recently. This entire sector has not been looked at. Therefore, as we look at the specific case that Sen. Mwaruma has brought, the Committee should bring the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) and different stakeholders and take an opportunity to expand it to address the woes. Otherwise, there will be another one tomorrow. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, many of my matatu operators in Nairobi have been pushed out of business because of these claims. Accidents happen and of course, we do not wish for them to happen. The reason you insure is to make sure that incase anything happens, you are covered. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, many of them are taking cover without looking at the insurer interest which means that for you to insure a property, whether it is a vehicle or house, you must own it. You must have insurable interest in that sector. However, people are buying it like bread. Of course, we want penetration to go up. Currently, this country’s insurance penetration is below 5 per cent and that speaks to a lot. People do not have health insurance. The only thing that is insured is the car because the law will catch up with you if it is not. However, if it was up to the people to decide whether to insure or not, many of them would not. I hope that the Committee on Finance and Budget which will deal with this matter will address this entire sector and help us know what we and the Government needs to do. If there are rogue players in the sector, they need to be dealt with in accordance with the law."
}