'Let's Make ECOWAS Brown Card Insurance Scheme Work'

Mr Emmanuel Baba Mahama, a seasoned insurer has called for collective efforts to make the Ecowas Brown Card Insurance scheme a great success.

Mr Mahama who chaired an event to mark Ecowas Brown Card day celebration in Accra said since one of the main objectives of setting it up was to bring relief to victims of cross-border motor accidents caused by visiting motorists from member states of Ecowas it was important that it worked.

He said there were a lot of Ecowas protocols that have been signed but lack proper implementation, and which was affecting them.

The Secretary General of the Council of Bureaux of the ECOWAS Brown Card Insurance Scheme in Togo, Mr Winfred Dodzih, said the impact of the scheme on the lives of victims of road accidents in our sub region as well as economic development of member states such as Ghana could not be over-emphasised.

He called on the stakeholders to use the Brown Card Day celebration as a good platform for education and awareness creation on the importance of the Ecowas Brown Card Insurance Scheme to the motorists public in the sub-region.

The Commissioner of Insurance, Mr Justice Yaw Ofori said that until the establishment of the Ecowas Brown Card Insurance Scheme, motorists travelling across their national boundaries had to apply to their local motor insurance companies for an extension of the geographical cover of their motor policies to include the country being visited.

This problem he said was further compounded by the cumbersome means by which claims were handled and processed, since there was lack of harmonisation of the claims procedures and requirements between countries.

"The Ecowas Brown Card Insurance Scheme was thus established on the protocol on the free movement of persons, goods and services across National Boundaries of Ecowas member states," he said.

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mr Charles Owiredu has expressed his ministry's delight for the Ecowas Brown Card Day celebration and congratulated the Ghana National Bureau of Ecowas Brown Card Insurance Scheme for celebrating the day at the time when Ghana was bidding to host the secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCFTA) in Accra.

"Permit me to use this opportunity to commend the Ghana National Bureau of Ecowas Brown Card Insurance Scheme under the abled leadership of Mr Patrick Agyekum for organising this very important event," he said.

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