A ruling by the Insurance Appeals Tribunal has restored control as well as the ownership structure of Directline Assurance, including stakes held by Kenyan media mogul SK Macharia, thus overturning a regulator directive that sought to nullify earlier shareholding changes and reinstating the companys structure as of February 2023.
In a letter dated Mar. 5, 2024, the Commissioner of Insurance had declared all share transfers since the companys founding void arguing that they lacked formal approval from the Insurance Regulatory Authority IRA and other shareholders. The directive sought to revert the insurers ownership to its 2005 structure.
However, the tribunal found that the commissioner and his predecessors had long been aware of the share changes and had continued to issue licenses to the company. It is our finding that from the correspondence and reports adduced, the Commissioner of Insurance had knowledge of the share changes some of which were undertaken following his own circular on increasing paid-up share capital, said the tribunal chaired by Gichinga Ndirangu.