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{
    "id": 462876,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/462876/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 329,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ichung’wah",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1835,
        "legal_name": "Anthony Kimani Ichung'Wah",
        "slug": "anthony-kimani-ichungwah"
    },
    "content": "The reason for moving this amendment is very simple; it is that Section 56 of the Insurance Act, Cap.487, says that:- “For the purpose of this section, every insurer shall appoint annually an auditor qualified under Section 161 of the Companies Act and approved by the Commissioner”. All I am seeking to do with the first bit by deleting all the words after “the Companies Act” is to remove the question of auditors being approved by the Commissioner of Insurance. This is principally because in the past the provision has been misused by the office of the Commissioner of Insurance to coerce insurance companies to procure the services of certain audit firms in this country. I want to leave it to a free market economy for the insurance companies to be able to procure audit services of any qualified audit firms in this country, which have been certified by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya as legitimate audit firms that can audit insurance companies, or any other financial corporations. This is the case with all other finaicial institutions and corporations in this country. So, there is really no need for the Commissioner of Insurance to be the one coercing or directing insurance companies, which are in essence private business enterprises, who should audit their books. Let us leave it open for the insurance companies to select whoever they want to audit their books. The second bit of the amendment is deletion of subsection (5). It says that:- “If an insurer fails to appoint an approved auditor under Subsection (4) or to fill any vacancy for an auditor which may arise, the Commissioner may appoint an auditor and fix the remenuration to be paid by the insurer to him”. This is very dangerous and it has been dangerous to many insurance companies. You are giving the Commissioner or the CEO of the Regulatory Authority, the powers to not only appoint an auditor for a particular insurance company, but to also fix what remenuration that auditor will be paid. As I pointed our earlier, in a free market economy, you ought to let even the audit firms in this country to competitively bid for jobs within the insurance industry. That is why I pray that this House adopts this deletion. The last bit on subsection (7) is also in relation to that. It also says that:- “If the auditor of an insurer fails to comply with the requirements of this Act, the Commissioner may remove him from office and appoint another person in his place”. In essence, you are giving this Commissioner of Insurance such immense powers that he can fire an auditor who has been appointed by a particular insurance company and replace him with another one without due consideration of any process or any competitive business in this country. I want to repeat that we should leave it open for all audit firms to have a fair playing ground. This has been not only an avenue but a 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."
}