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Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has unearthed anomalies in the Sh5 billion insurance cover for National Police Service (NPS) and Kenya Prisons Service (KPS) employees.

The cover, covering January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023 and which is catering for 141,961 persons (NPS 109,557 and KPS 32,404) comprise of the Group Life Cover, Work Injury Benefits Act (WIBA) and Group Personal Accident Cover (GPA).

Reads the report: “However, review of insurance records revealed the unsatisfactory matters.”

With regards to Group Life Benefits, the report shows that although clause 2.3.1 of the contract provides that upon the death of a member, the member’s declared next of kin shall be paid a lump sum compensation of five years annual basic salary, at the time of audit in November, 2023, the company had not paid an amount of Sh220 million in respect to group life sum assured.

This, the report says, is contrary to the contract terms which state that claims shall be paid within five days after notification and provision of all documentations.

 On injuries occurred out of an accident or as a result of illness as provided for under GPA, the contract says that such members shall be entitled to compensation for loss of gross salary up to a maximum period of two years subject to the prevailing Human Resources (HR) Policy at the time of injury or illness.

Salary multiplied

However, the report reveals that insurance records at the time of audit the company had a backlog of 312 persons with unpaid injury GPA claims despite having been notified.

On fatal GPA, which the contract provides that permanent total disability under the cover be compensated at a rate of five years basic salary multiplied by the percentage awarded, the report regrets that the company had not processed four claims amounting to Sh1.4 million under fatal GPA.

On WIBA, which the contract provides that temporary disablement be compensated through a periodical payment equivalent to the members salary, as long as the temporary disablement continues but not for a period that exceeds 12 months, the report revealed that at the time of audit in the month of November, 2023 there were unpaid WIBA claims of 687 persons whose dispatch to the company had not been done. Further, the report states that although the contract provides that death under WIBA or as a result of occupational accident be compensated at a rate of eight years gross salary of the beneficiary records provided for audit revealed that from January, 2023 up to the time of the audit in the month of November, 2023, the company had not processed WIBA deaths for 14 members.

 Reads the report: “ln the circumstances, management did not adequately monitor the contract to ensure that the contract terms are complied with and ensure there is value for money and benefits to members from the contract.”

And aside from the insurance cover, the NPS is also on the sport over other issues, including the stalling of four  Administration Police Service Projects awarded in 2006/07 at Police College Embakasi ‘A’ Campus and which were at various levels of completion despite them consuming Sh38.9 million as well as delay in separation of electricity metres between the Kenya Police Service and individual police officers who are required to pay their electricity bill.

The others include failure by 151 gazetted police stations operating without Authority to incur Expenditure (AlE).

The stations instead were meeting recurrent expenditure through support from nine mother stations and lack of ownership documents for land.

Ownership documents

According to the report, although the records show that the service owns 3,000 parcels across the country, they only have title deeds for 464 parcels of land which are under the custody of the Deputy Inspector General at Vigilance House and several others at the Treasury who is the main custodian of public assets.

Reads the report: “This is an indication that only 20 percent of the land owned by Service had title deeds while the balance of approximately 80 percent did not have ownership documents.”