The Ghana Journalist Association (GJA), in partnership with SIC Insurance Company have secured GHC20 million insurance for its members against injuries or accident encountered before, during and after election 2020.
According to the Head of Corporate and Special Risk of SIC insurance, Mr. Emmanuel Simpini Mensah, SIC is thrilled to support journalists as they dispense their duties without holding back.
He said, as part his outfit’s commitment, an insurance package which spans from November 1, 2020 to the 31st of January 2021 is currently ongoing.
Mr. Simpini indicated that, the only process the injured journalist would have to go through to claim this insurance, is to report the incident to the GJA, and the Association will expedite the claim insurance once the medical report of the journalist has be ascertained.
He clarified that, injuries under this insurance package has been categorized into three. That is; temporal disability, the permanent disability and death.
Additionally, he noted that, in the case of a permanent disability or death, an outright amount of forty thousand cedis will be paid to the journalist or his or her next of kin.
Conversely, in case of a temporal disability, the journalist will be paid three-thousand three hundred Ghana cedis monthly, for a maximum of one year. The two requirements, however are; the individual must be a member of GJA and the injury sustained, related to this year’s elections.
”We are committing 20million Ghana cedis to this insurance, which will be running from 1st November 2020 to 31st January 2021, so it is before, during and after the elections. If you are a GJA member and you go to the field to report on the elections, any injury you suffer, you report through the GJA and the GJA get the medical report for you, then we pay.”
“There are three types of events which could occur. You could have temporal disability which means, you’re injured but you could get back to work. Then you could have the permanent disability which means, your injury is such that, you cannot be a journalist anymore, and there is death. If it is permanent disability or death, forty thousand cedis payable immediately we get the report.”
The President of the association, Mr. Affail Monney, expressed gratitude towards SIC Insurance for backing their words with actions.
He said more often than not, the association gets similar promises from other corporate bodies but those promises are never fulfilled.
He encouraged members of GJA on the field to work diligently and confidently, recognizing that in any case of an accident, they are fully insured.
He however beckoned journalists who are not part of the association to register as soon as possible, in order to be covered by this insurance package and more to come.
”It’s unthinkable for any journalist not to belong to the GJA. With alacrity, I’m encouraging journalists who are not part of GJA to download a form, fill and submit at the Press Center and will instantly be made a member.”
