The National Insurance Commission (NIC) has commenced the training of some 250 National Service Personnel posted to the Urban Traffic Management Unit of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service.

The training which forms part of the Commission’s structured agenda to create insurance awareness in the Country is expected to be replicated across all other Security Agencies.

Speaking at the launch of the training program in Accra on October 13, 2020, the Commissioner of Insurance, Mr Justice Yaw Ofori hinted: “It is worthy to note the launch marks the commencement of series of insurance training programmes outlined and targeted at the Security Agencies i.e, the Police, the Military, Prisons, Fire Service, Immigration and other allied agencies”.

He further stated that this awareness creation approach by the Insurance Regulator “has the over-arching object of deepening financial literacy, as well as, expanding the financial inclusion net”.

The training of the service personnel which is being facilitated by the Ghana Insurance College is expected to equip them in the novel Motor Insurance Database (MID) in particular and insurance in general.

He admonished the participants to take the training seriously as “some of you may, at the end of the service, have the desire to develop a career in insurance which has abundant opportunities”.

Mr Ofori pledged the continuous support of the NIC to collaborate with the Police in order to bring sanity on to our roads and the overall desire to bring insurance to the doorsteps of every Ghanaian.

On his part, the Director of the Ghana Insurance College, Mr Richard Okyere disclosed that the College which is the main training arm of the Insurance Industry has so far trained an impressive 4,000 out of a targeted 10,000 since the NIC started the training of the youth as Insurance Agents in June 2019. This move, Mr Okyere said, has created employment in the insurance industry for many young people.

In a keynote speech read on behalf of the Inspector-General of Police, the Director-General, Private Security Organisations of the Police Service, COP Mr Alphonse Adu-Amankwah advised the service personnel to take advantage of the many opportunities that abound in the insurance industry.

He disclosed that the Urban Traffic Management module was developed and implemented to support the MTTD to control and manage traffic within major towns and cities in Ghana. “So far the progress in terms of achievements have been tremendous”, he said. He advised the participants to work assiduously as ‘this job is not an easy one. You need to be meticulous and very careful about how you go about your duties”, he cautioned.

The NIC is the supervisory and regulatory body of all insurance entities in Ghana backed by Act 2006 (Act 724) and has for some time now championed the training of all categories of persons as part of the Commission’s mandate of making everyone aware of the needs and benefits of insurance.