New recruits during a passing out parade at the National Police College Main Campus in Kiganjo, Nyeri County. A two-year freeze on recruitment is set to be lifted.
The government now says that urgent appeals by the National Police Service (NPS) for Sh4.1 billion in premium amounts for Group Life insurance cover for police officers can only be considered in the next supplementary budget.
This is despite the fact that the Sh4.3 billion one-year contract that NPS entered into with Britam Insurance Company Limited to provide the cover will end on March 31, 2025, having commenced on April 1, 2024, without any premium being paid.
The delays in releasing the insurance premiums put the lives of the police officers in volatile areas in the country, including those in foreign missions like Haiti, in difficult situations as it does to families of fallen officers.
Ms Bernice Lemedeket, the NPS secretary administration and the accounting officer, had requested the National Treasury for additional funding in her letter of November 20, 2024, to cater for the service’s contractual obligation.
The funds are urgently required to enable the NPS to clear the attendant claims of the beneficiaries of the officers who have died while in the line of duty.
However, National Treasury Principal Secretary Dr Chris Kiptoo despite acknowledging Ms Lemedeket’s request, said that the additional funding will be undertaken through supplementary budget II under the current financial year- 2024/25.
Fiscal constraint
“We have reviewed the content therein, including the request for the National Treasury to reconsider its earlier advice,” Dr Kiptoo says in the November 27, 2024 letter to Ms Lemedeket.
“In view of the justification provided and the existing fiscal constraint underpinning implementation of the 2024/25 budget, the additional requirement will be reviewed further for funding consideration in the 2024/25 supplementary estimates,” noted the PS.
Group Life insurance is a type of insurance policy that an employer or organisation provides to its employees or members.
This cover offers financial protection to the beneficiaries of the insured person in the event of their death while they are members of the group.
The cover is a key part of the employee benefit packages where the employer owns the policy and pays the premium.
The NPS is the employer of all the 141,961 police officers in the country as per the data from the government- translating to about one police officer to 461 Kenyans.
Other than the officers under NPS, the cover also includes the beneficiaries of the officers- spouses and children or dependents of up to 25 years.
Dr Kiptoo spoke as his boss- National Treasury Cabinet John Mbadi- noted that the revised budget for the 2024/25 financial year is constrained with “very limited” scope for additional funding “except for unforeseen and unavoidable expenditures.”
Law change
“The National Police Service should explore the possibility for review of contracts with a view to accommodating the services within the available 2024/25 financial year budget for insurance costs while leveraging the benefit packages under the Social Health Authority framework,” said Mr Mbadi.
The Social Health Authority was created through a law change to replace the National Health Insurance Fund.
Ms Lemedeket recently admitted before a committee of the National Assembly that Britam Insurance Limited had not settled Sh220.14 million in Group Life claims to the families of the fallen officers according to the latest report by Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu.
The revelations in the audit on the accounts of the NPS for the financial year 2022/23, saw members of the House Public Accounts Committee (PAC) spring in discomfort.
“The demoralisation of the police officers serving the country is on another level. Police officers have died in the line of duty yet their families have not been compensated. It is not fair at all,” said Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera.
The Group Life contract that NPS entered with Britam Insurance Company Limited provides that upon the passing on of a member, who is a police officer, the member’s declared next of kin shall be paid a lump sum compensation of five years annual basic salary.
The unpaid claims, according to the Lugari MP, are therefore, contrary to the contractual terms which state that claims shall be paid within five days after notification and provision of all documentation by the claimant.
