Chamber of commerce pleads for Westgate, JKIA traders compensation


The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged insurers to compensate traders affected by the airport fire and Westgate attack on “compassionate grounds” saying most stand to suffer total loss.

KNCCI chairman Kiprono Kittony

KNCCI chairman Kiprono Kittony said yesterday most of the traders whose businesses were destroyed or looted during the August 8 fire at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and the Westgate mall terrorist attack are yet to get any financial help.

“Insurance companies have invoked clauses that do not allow them to pay for the Westgate damage,” Kittony said.

Speaking during a workshop on barriers to trade within the East Africa Community hosted by the chamber and Nestle’ Kittony also called on the government to set up a safety net fund that would help businesses rise from such incidents when they get affected.

“To the best of my knowledge i do not know of any of the affected businesses that have an insurance cover that is going to give them compensation,” Kittony said.

The chamber chairman said insurance companies had the financial ability to pay these businesses out of compassion adding that they collected a lot of premiums during the electioneering period ahead of the March 4 elections as businesses rushed to buy the political risk covers.


“I do not think it is beyond them to show compassion to business people and assist.”

KNCCI has been among the business lobby groups that have arranged for meetings between the Westgate traders and the government leading to a set up of a comittee chaired by Commerce Cabinet Secretary Phyllis Kandie to deliberate on recovery plans for the affected traders.

He said KNCCI together with the affected traders from both incidents are preparing a document that will compile the losses accrued by the affected traders in the two incidents.

Last week, Kenya Reinsurance boss Jadiah Mwarania said estimates show the JKIA fire payout would be Sh2.5 billion, an amount that would wipe out all the annual profits for the airport’s insurer, re-insurer and broker.

Meanwhile, Kittony has also called on the government to return the mandate of issuing certificate of origin for exports heading the Comesa and EAC markets to KNCCI adding that it has streamlined its operations and ready to work for the business community.

This mandate was withdrawn in 2008 by the Ministry of Trade at the height of wrangles within the chamber.

By LOLA OKULO, The Standard

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.