CS Matiangi vows to stop idiocy, madness in the insurance sector

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i on Friday announced that the government will now go after rogue insurance companies over failure to compensate accident victims.

Speaking at the Kenya School of Government in Kabete, Dr. Matiang’i said most accident victims are never compensated promising to follow up and ensure that justice is served to those victims.

“Do you know of any one of these accidents that have taken place recently where the victims have been compensated by any insurance company?” he asked.

“…The kind of idiocy and madness we have witnessed in the insurance sector cannot be allowed to prevail.”

In the function attended by Transport James Macharia, PS Karanja Kibicho and Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet, the CS noted that rogue insurance companies are busy collecting money but don’t follow through after accidents occur.

“We are not going to carry the burden for anyone, some of these insurance companies, we will go after them, if it’s taking away their licenses we take their licenses,” said Matiang’i.

The CS also declared war on those he called ‘faceless people’ and cartels whom he accused of creating chaos in the matatu sector.

“Where else on earth do you find a person who buys a vehicle and before it can start operating you have to pay some mad person some Ksh.50,000… for nothing!,” posed Matiang’i.

While aware that matatu operators would never name the cartels due to fear and intimidation, Matiang’i promised to root them out and restore sanity in the sector.

“This lawlessness has to come to an end, it is criminal living which we cannot accept,” said the CS.

On his part, IG Boinnet said that the police service will hold the County Commanders responsible of restoring sanity in the sector.

“We have commenced the use of technology in Mombasa and Nairobi to make it easy to report incidences of offenders of the traffic laws,” said Boinnet.

This comes ahead of a major countrywide traffic crackdown scheduled to start next week that will see the return of the famous ‘Michuki rules.’