Africa Merchant Assurance Company (Amaco) risks closure, again after a petitioner filed an application for its liquidation.
Bernard Kihiu Magothe through his lawyer Njoroge Baiya & Company advocates filed a liquidation application and has asked others to join.
In a Gazette notice no 1929 released on March 9, the petitioner has filed a petition against the underwriter which will be heard April 17, 2020.
Read: Amaco Insurance Loses Office Furniture Over Ksh15 Million Debt
“The petition for the liquidation of the above-mentioned company by the High Court was on March 2, 2020, presented to the said court by Bernard Kihiu Magothe, is directed to be heard by the High Court sitting in Nairobi on the April 17, 2020,” the notice read in part.
In January, a petitioner Beth Kihara and six others backed down from a suit in which they sought to have the company liquidated on accusations of failing to settle claims.
“That by consent of both parties the Statutory Demand … against Africa Merchant Assurance Company Limited herein be and is hereby marked as withdrawn with no orders to costs,” read a notice in the latest Kenya Gazette.
A recent Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) report revealed that Amaco closed the third quarter of 2019 with 1,649 outstanding claims, having settled only 215 during the period.
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Last year, Mama Rael Medical Clinic raided Amaco offices over a Ksh15 million debt, and carried furniture from the offices. It is not yet clear how the case ended.
This is despite Amaco collecting over Ksh2.1 billion in terms of customer premiums last year, which is enough to pay such claims at a go.
Amaco reported a Ksh75 million profit in 2018 with claims dropping by five percent from Ksh1.4 billion in 2017 to Ksh1.3 billion in 2018.
