Compulsory national service insurance, a good ‘evil’?

I cannot imagine a situation where many people and institutions on their own would want to patronise any form of insurance in Ghana. But for the fact that motor insurance is compulsory.

It all boils down to awareness, which remains a big deal as far as the patronage of insurance products are concerned.

Abdul, my friend – a true story

Until 2006, the last time I saw Abdul was when we had just finished our last examination paper and submitted our thesis together and embarked on our final journey from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, to Accra. We sat next to each other and had the ‘dream chats’ of our lives. His intention was to do his postgraduate in Civil Engineering immediately after the national service and I shared my own plans of going to study Communications Studies for my postgraduate after working for a while. He alighted at St John’s bus stop and I continued to Achimota. We exchanged contacts of relatives as we didn’t have mobile phones of our own at the time and relied heavily on either friends and relatives who had one or the nearest ‘Comm Centre’.

Unfortunately, we never saw or heard from each other again. I did my national service in Accra and had no idea where he did his! I perceived life to be full of good things and never imagined risks coming my way.

At Korle Bu trotro station

After a visit to a sibling at the maternity ward of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital some time in 2006, I walked to pick trotro from the Korle Bu Trotro Station. Just in front of me was a young man struggling with clutches to enter the trotro as he was being assisted by the trotro mate.

I waited patiently for my turn to join the trotro. When he finally settled and I was the next to enter the trotro, I couldn’t believe the young man was my own pal, Abdul! One leg was gone! I tearfully requested to sit next to him again as we did together five years earlier on our way from Kumasi, but this time round Abdul was not the same!

Things can happen to anyone

As to be expected, I sought to know from him what had happened. He narrated the story of his involvement in an accident while on his trip from his national service post at Tarkwa in the Western Region to Berekum in the Brong Ahafo Region to visit his sick father. According to him, many people, including another national service person, died on the spot.

The few fortunate passengers either lost a limb or two or had severe damage to other parts of their bodies. Life became hell for Abdul as he had to take care of himself after losing his sick father just around the time of the accident. Close uncles and aunties ‘disappeared’ from the radar of family support!

Introduction of the compulsory national service insurance

For purposes of further public education, I wish to use this medium to highlight the background to how the compulsory national service insurance came about and some common questions with very practical answers. Thereafter, I will share with readers some analysis on the subject:

Question 1: How did the Group Life Insurance Scheme for national service personnel come about?

Answer: Upon several reports of road traffic, domestic and industrial accidents and some deaths involving national service personnel, the NASPA Congress, which is representative of all national service personnel in Ghana and also the highest decision-making body of NASPA, convened a meeting to find a way of compensating or taking care of service personnel who suffer such misfortunes during their national service periods. The NASPA Congress, therefore, passed a resolution to provide insurance cover for all national service personnel in the country.

Question 2: Could the NASPA Congress had contacted all individual national service personnel in the country before taking the Group Life Insurance Scheme decision?

Answer: Apparently no. Just like the parliamentary system, members of the NASPA Congress are representatives of all the National Service Scheme designated districts and the decisions they take at congress bind every national service person.

Question 3: What was the role of the National Service Scheme (NSS) in the provision of this insurance scheme?

Answer: The NSS only provided advisory services to NASPA in the decision-making process to ensure that the decision by the NASPA Congress was in the best interest of all national service personnel.

Question 4: In brief, what are the benefits under the Insurance Scheme?

Answer: The Scheme, as a package, has three major benefit components.

These are:

- Death

- Permanent Disability

- Temporary Disability

Question 5: Does the Insurance cover me 24-hours?

Answer: Yes. The insurance covers you on a 24-hour basis.

Question 6: If I pass away, what benefits are payable to my beneficiaries or next of kin?

Answer: If you pass away in the course of serving the nation as a national service person, your named beneficiaries or next of kin would be paid an amount of GH¢15,000.

Question 7: What compensation do I get if I am involved in accident?

Answer: If you are involved in an accident, the following could be the unfortunate outcomes:

- Loss of life

- Temporary disability

- Permanent disability

- Loss of a member(s) of the body

• If it is temporary disablement (that is, your inability to attend to your national service duties for a period not less than one month), you shall be paid an amount equivalent to GH¢3,000.

• If you become totally and permanently disabled (that is, your inability to work again for the rest of your life or a prolonged period), you shall receive an amount equivalent to GH¢15,000.

• If it is loss of body part, then either 100 per cent or 50 per cent of your sum assured shall become payable depending on the number of specified body parts lost. Eg. Loss of both eyes shall attract 100 per cent compensation, while loss of one limb shall attract 50 per cent of the sum assured.

Question 8: How much is the premium for all these packages?

Answer: The premium per person per month is GH¢15.00

Some practical analysis

I wish to use this opportunity to explain to our cherished National Service Personnel that GH¢15 a month is about GH¢0.50 per day to have such insurance benefits. (How many sachets of pure water do we consume in a day and at what price? – worthy to think about).

A total of GH¢180 as premium from an annual allowance of GH¢6,708 during the entire national service period represents only 2.68 per cent of the total allowance and this would help a great deal considering the fact that the risk-bearing insurance companies would have to pay huge claims in the event that such insured risks do happen at any time during the period.

The way forward

Apart from the benefits to derive from this novelty move by the various relevant stakeholders, I believe it has the potential to imbibe a certain culture of insurance in our future leaders. Indeed, not everybody really wants to hear about insurance but it is because of lack of awareness and some negative comments about the sector in Ghana. It is needless to state that insurance plays a key role in the economic benefits not only of individuals but also as a country as a whole.

Let us provide adequate education and ask questions where in doubt rather than throw sticks into the spokes of a good wheel!

Yes, I do not expect that some of the beneficiaries of this group life insurance scheme would not react to ‘not knowing about it’ but I expect all and sundry who understand the benefits to encourage them rather than make utterances that would defeat its purposes. It is in our national interest that all stakeholders, including parents and guardians, embrace this policy.

Abdul and co would have benefitted from a package like this many years ago if it was there. Statements such as ‘…compulsory insurance being a broad daylight robbery…’ I find highly unfortunate. Some of these statements have the potential of having a negative influence on the prospective beneficiaries, thus deepening the already ‘not-too-pleasant-perception’ about insurance.

Parents and guardians equally have a role to play in making their children and wards understand that it is a risk transfer mechanism from them (parents / guardians and service personnel alike to insurance companies to handle in the event of a mishap. This would also give them a peace of mind and a good understanding of the concept and benefits of insurance as they embark on the journey to the world of work.

Until next week, ‘This is Insurance from the eyes of my mind.’