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{
    "id": 1159462,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1159462/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 149,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kisumu East, Independent",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Shakeel Shabbir",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 140,
        "legal_name": "Ahmed Shakeel Shabbir Ahmed",
        "slug": "shakeel-shabbir"
    },
    "content": "Washiali, for his consistency. I have been in the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning and I have seen the number of times he has come before the Committee. We have discussed this on many occasions and in various variations. I will tell you one thing, that we have been under a lot of pressure from the so called big boys and insurance companies. They do not want this Bill. There has been a monopoly in the insurance sector and the big boys, including some banks and insurance companies, have been fighting this Bill. The number of insurance brokers we have in this country is the essence of this Bill. They must be certified before allowing them to sell insurance as brokers. The Insurance Professionals Registration Bill will give them the opportunity of registering themselves and passing the courses locally so that they can have certificates to practice insurance trade that they want. Hitherto, brokers have been misused by insurance companies. There are quacks and undisciplined brokers. There has been a lot of dishonesty in the insurance sector. However, with this Bill, if you do not have a practicing certificate, you will be charged Kshs50,000 or get a six-months imprisonment. The Bill also covers employees in insurance companies and brokerage. It covers most of those who are involved in taking insurance covers to people. Once we professionalise and have discipline within brokers on how they relate to insurance companies, underwriters and customers, we will take this industry to the next stage. The main thing that we are trying to do here is to make sure that brokers are professional. I do not like to go into the politics of this industry, but one thing I must tell you is that there are almost 30,000 brokers in Kenya alone. There are many more people who want to practice and do this brokerage. We must cut back and curtail the monopolies of banks and insurance companies that insist that only policies are to be done year in year out. At this point in time, Kenya is one of the very few countries in the world that you can take an insurance cover online, pay for it and yet you do not know the policy document that you are signing. These are the sort of things we must work on. I am pleased that we are taking this step. Hon. Washiali has been criticised and there The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}