Uhuru signs into law amended Competition and Insurance Bills
President Uhuru Kenyatta has signed into law the amended Competition and Insurance Bills tackling abuse of dominance in the market place and strengthening the insurance laws to protect policy holders.
The new law empowers the Competition Authority of Kenya to review contracts and agreements between suppliers and buyers to determine cases of abuse of buyer power.
“The Act further empowers the Competition Authority of Kenya to require sectors which have a potential for abuse of buyer power to develop a binding code of practice,” read a PSCU statement.
The Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2019, now an Act of Parliament, was submitted to the National Assembly during the reading of the 2019/2020 budget and is intended to separate the legal provisions on abuse of buyer lower from those on abuse of dominant power.
The Insurance (Amendment) Act, 2019, on the other hand, introduces provisions for the protection of policy holders where an insurer is in distress and the assets are put in statutory management.
The new law empowers the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) to prescribe the manner of submission of various kinds of returns, and provides for a penalty for late submission, which shall be payable into the Policyholders' Compensation Fund.
To strengthen the regulatory framework of the insurance industry particularly premium collections and payment of claims, the amended insurance law introduces requirements for insurance companies to regularly submit premium levy returns and claims payment returns to the authority.
Present during the signing of the two bills were Attorney General Paul Kihara, Acting National Treasury CS Ukur Yattani, Leader of Majority in the National Assembly Aden Duale, Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua and Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly Jeremiah Ndumbi.
