Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) kicked off a three-day insurance stakeholders’ engagement in Meru County aimed at sensitising residents on the importance of taking up various insurance covers available in the market.
Speaking during the training for local journalists in one of the hotels in the county, the IRA Assistant Manager in charge of customer relations, Mr Evans Kibagendi, said the authority was targeting various groups to educate them on the importance of insurance covers through a national initiative dubbed ‘Bima Mashinani’.
He said journalists were the most influential people in the local set up and therefore it was important to ensure they were conversant with matters insurance.
“It is not possible for us to get to every Kenyan to explain to them what insurance entails but we can get to a majority of them if we engage the media which people rely on for information,” he noted.
“It is therefore critical to have the media practitioners trained on these issues so they can relay factual information to their audience,” said Mr Kibagendi.
He said the workshops were important to equip Kenyans at the grassroots level with the correct information in order to make an informed decision as opposed to some of the wrong perceptions that have been held over the players in the sector.
“We are aware that many Kenyans have wrong information on insurance companies and one of the major activities in these forums is to demystify the wrong perceptions that have been there,” said Kibagendi.
He appealed to journalists, just like other Kenyans, to take up insurance covers that would ensure they were safe in their line of duty as well as invest in their future.
“Some of the important insurance covers those journalists should have include life cover as well as education cover, especially for their children’s education in future,” said Kibagendi.
The authority is also set to engage boda boda operators as well as special interest groups before concluding the activity on Friday.
By Dickson Mwiti
