SIC shareholders angry; call for emergency meeting

Shareholders of embattled SIC Insurance Company Limited have called for an emergency meeting, as they accuse management of sidelining them and going public with matters that should have been explained to them.

The shareholders are angry over what they describe as ‘a media outburst’ of the issues on the part of management, and are calling for restraint.

The company has been in the news in recent weeks for two notable happenings -- an allegation of misappropriation of funds that got the Deputy Managing Director, Finance and Administration, Musa Abdulai, interdicted; and an issue that relates to a credit guarantee bond transaction that has cost the company financial loss running into millions of cedi.

In an interview with the B&FT, a number of key shareholders said these matters require management of the company to seek their concerns and recommendations instead of choosing to go public.

The shareholders claim they are further infuriated by the fact that this was not the first time the issue of credit guarantee had caused severe financial loss to the company.

SIC Insurance encountered a similar credit guarantee problem between 1999 and 2000 under the leadership of the then-Managing Director, Ebenezer Allotey. The said incident led the company into a debt that could not be serviced until the appointment of Mr. Peter Osei-Duah in 2001.

After this incident, the regulator -- the National Insurance Commission -- advised all insurers to shy away from underwriting credit guarantees.

Meanwhile, management of the company has issued a press statement to defend its decision to underwrite credit guarantees.

The statement said the company is licenced, just like any other insurance company, to underwrite risk and pay legitimate claims thereon.

“A credit-guarantee underwritten by SIC Insurance has resulted in a claim, and one of the parties involved has secured a judgment from the court in their favour. Management is taking active steps to resolve this issue,” the statement copied to the B&FT said.

It further denied what it said were media reports that suggested Managing Director Mrs. Doris Awo Nkani had been interdicted, saying she has rather been advised by the Board of Directors to take part of her accumulated annual leave effective January 26, 2015.

“In her absence, Mr. Kwei Mensah Ashidam, Deputy Managing Director (Technical), will act as Managing Director.”

The statement added that: “Management wishes to categorically state that this development has no relation to the earlier interdiction of the Deputy Managing Director, Finance and administration”.

The company assured its clients and the general public that it is “fully operational” and that it will continue to provide “innovative, competitive insurance and allied services”.