Insurance Commission clamps down on defaulters
There was drama at Casino Gold, a hospitality facility at Osu in Accra, when a Ghanaian employee offered herself to be arrested instead of her Chinese employer when a task force from the National Insurance Commission (NIC) visited the facility to enforce the compulsory insurance policy for commercial buildings.
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The task force arrested the Chinese manager of the facility but another manager, who is also a chinese, insisted that a Ghanaian female receptionist should rather be arrested which led the recently employed Ghanaian employee to willingly give herself up for arrest so her boss could be set free.
But the task force went ahead to arrest the manager, identified as Gao Quankang.
Some residents of the area were seen jubilating on the streets as rumours spread that the Chinese owners of the Casino had been picked up for maltreating their Ghanaian employees.
Operation
The task force, made up of officials from the NIC, the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) and the Ghana Police Service, visited eight companies in Accra in the special operation which led to the arrest of six other persons.
Apart from the Casino Gold manager, two other Chinese managers of the Ghana Heavy Duty Truck and Spare Parts Company and Yan Tai International, a building and construction firm, were also arrested for failure to comply with the Insurance Act 2006, Act 724 which mandates the compulsory insurance of commercial buildings.
When the team visited some companies on the Spintex Road, two Ghanaian managers were arrested at the General Auto Zone Company, while at Asylum Down, a worker of Eco Furniture Works was arrested when she could not provide an insurance certificate to prove that the company had fulfilled the provisions of the law.
Confrontation
The operation was, however, not without some confrontations. At Asylum Down, a man who identified himself as the assembly member of the area, Mr Francis Ebo Mensah, confronted the task force for not informing him ahead of the exercise.
He told journalists that he had received distress calls from some residents and business operators in the area that armed policemen were arresting some persons.
After arguing with some policemen and other members of the task force, the Chairman of the task force, Mr Joseph Bentor, explained to Mr Mensah that the exercise was backed by law and that the companies involved had received series of notices and caution letters.
The Insurance Act
Sections 183 and 184 of the insurance Act of 2006 Act 724 stipulates that a person shall not construct a commercial building without insuring with a registered insurer against construction risks caused by negligence which may result in bodily injury or loss of life or damage to property of any workman on the site or any member of the public.
It further states that every commercial building, either under construction or completed, shall be insured with an insurer against the hazard of collapse, fire, earthquake, storm and flood with an insurance policy issued for it.
The insurance policy is to cover the legal liabilities of an owner or occupier of premises in respect of loss of or damage to property, bodily injury or death suffered by any user of the premises and their parties.
The task force also inspected fire certificates of companies and other fire equipment to ensure safety of the property.
Those who did not have insurance cover or had their cover expired were also arrested. Those with invalid fire certificates or no fire equipment were cautioned to comply with the regulation.
Objective
Last year, the task force arrested 165 persons for not complying with the insurance law in the three northern regions.
Mr Bentor told journalists that the operation was to encourage voluntary compliance with the law and would be replicated in the Eastern, Volta, Western and Central regions in the coming months.