In a functioning economy, the insurance sector is a cornerstone of security, stability, and resilience. It enables individuals, businesses, and public institutions to manage risk and safeguard against financial shocks.
It is a system that must operate on trust, professionalism, and a well-enforced legal framework. Unfortunately, in Tanzania today, the insurance sector is under siege—from politics, opportunism, and regulatory complacency.
The Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority (TIRA), entrusted with protecting the integrity of this sector, now finds itself at the heart of a quiet crisis—one that is eroding public trust, distorting markets, and undermining legal norms.
Every stakeholder in the industry can feel it: the system has been hijacked. We are witnessing an alarming infiltration of the insurance business by institutions and individuals who neither understand nor respect the laws governing the sector.
It used to be that insurance was the domain of licensed professionals—trained underwriters, accredited agents, and registered brokers. Today, those lines are blurred beyond recognition. Everyone is selling insurance. From regular civilians to public security officers, it seems like every Tom, Dick, and Harry is now an insurance agent.
The Tanzania Police Force (TPF) now acts as insurance agents. The Tanzania Prisons Service (TPS) followed suit. Even the military has entered the fray—not only as a promoter of insurance products, but as a direct competitor through the launch of JKT’s Suma Life Insurance.
Think about the implications: institutions that are supposed to uphold public order and security are now doubling as commercial entities, pushing insurance policies to the public.
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This isn’t market expansion. It’s market distortion. These institutions enjoy an unfair advantage due to their state power, positioning, and public trust. Citizens may feel obligated or coerced into buying insurance from them, thinking it is a government mandate. This undermines competition, violates principles of ethical sales, and sets a dangerous precedent for the future.
‘Insurance ambassadors’
Yet, even this distortion pales in comparison to a more troubling development—TIRA’s introduction of “insurance ambassadors.” These are politically appointed individuals who have been given influence over decision-making processes within the insurance ecosystem. They are not career insurance professionals.
They are not licensed agents, actuaries, or regulators. Many are simply connected to powerful political families or are current Members of Parliament, like Special Seat MP Wanu Hafidh, who also happens to be President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s daughter. Others are Zanzibar’s Chief Secretary, Zena Ahmed Said, and Vwawa MP Japhet Hasunga (Chama cha Mapinduzi – CCM).
According to TIRA, apart from their other responsibilities, the ambassadors will help “provide education and awareness about insurance to the public.” Additionally, they will have the role of “advising the authority to grow and develop the insurance sector” in Tanzania.
However, these ambassadors have no legal basis under the Insurance Act, 2009, which governs the sector in Tanzania. They are neither recognised nor sanctioned by law. Yet today, when a stakeholder brings a technical proposal to TIRA—whether it’s a product innovation, regulatory revision, or market expansion initiative—it must be reviewed in a meeting attended by these ambassadors. And if they reject it, the proposal dies.
This is not just extra-legal. It is anti-legal. The insurance sector, by law, is supposed to be managed through technocratic channels guided by data, risk analysis, and legal compliance. TIRA’s decision to install unofficial gatekeepers effectively suspends the rule of law in favour of political expediency.
Budget misuse?
One of the most egregious failures in TIRA’s mismanagement is the misuse of its operational budget. Instead of channelling funds into capacity building, insurance literacy, or training industry leaders to keep pace with risk, compliance, and innovation, TIRA diverts substantial sums to finance its shadowy “insurance ambassadors.”
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These politically appointed ambassadors—unrecognised under the Insurance Act—receive taxpayer-funded sitting allowances, transport stipends, and per diem for safari trips, often to attend meetings with no regulatory function or measurable public impact.
These funds could have supported nationwide consumer awareness campaigns to improve insurance penetration; subsidised training for licensed agents and brokers to enhance technical compliance; workshops on emerging risk, such as climate insurance, cyber liability, or microinsurance models; or outreach to underserved regions where insurance access remains dismal.
Instead, public money is funnelled into photo-op tours and committee meetings that serve political optics, not public value. This is not just inefficiency, it is an insult to the many professionals and citizens who expect TIRA to act in the public interest.
When regulators use operational budgets to buy political loyalty rather than public confidence, the damage isn’t just financial. It’s institutional. It signals to the entire industry that lawfulness, expertise, and public service are worth less than patronage.
Dereliction of duty
The fundamental question becomes: what, then, is TIRA? Is it a regulator committed to fair competition and legal enforcement? Or is it a political tool, bending under pressure from influential quarters to serve narrow interests?
It is now evident that TIRA has abandoned its core mandate. Instead of defending the sector from undue influence, it has welcomed that influence and normalised it. The insurance ambassadors operate with impunity, not as advisors, but as political shields for decisions that should never have been politicised in the first place.
In practice, this means the regulatory process has been compromised. Stakeholders can no longer expect fair hearings. Technical experts are sidelined. Investors are spooked. And young professionals—many of whom invested years in education to become certified actuaries, underwriters, or risk managers—are watching the sector devolve into a political bazaar.
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Across the globe, regulatory agencies in the insurance sector are designed to be independent, transparent, and professionally run. In South Africa, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) strictly separates regulatory functions from political interference. In Kenya, the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) is known for its open consultation forums where proposals are evaluated based on actuarial and legal merit—not political alignment.
Why, then, is Tanzania going in the opposite direction?
We are not short of talent. Nor are we short of laws. The Insurance Act provides a clear regulatory framework. The problem lies in enforcement and the creeping normalisation of informality. The rise of non-statutory “ambassadors” within the official architecture of decision-making undermines everything this sector is supposed to represent.
For ordinary Tanzanians, the consequences are real and immediate. With regulators distracted by political patronage, issues like fraudulent insurance practices, unpaid claims, and non-compliant insurers go unaddressed. The public suffers while politicians profit.
Small insurance companies, especially those without political connections, find themselves locked out of crucial decisions. Their growth is stifled not by market forces, but by political gatekeeping. Meanwhile, powerful state-aligned institutions like Suma Life Insurance expand with impunity.
Even the credibility of insurance products is at risk. Tanzanians will begin to associate insurance not with financial security, but with opportunism and coercion. That is a reputational crisis that could take decades to undo.
It is time for stakeholders—insurance professionals, consumer advocates, legal scholars, and business leaders—to raise their voices. Silence only emboldens further decay.
We must ask the hard questions: under what law do insurance ambassadors operate? Why are military and police agencies participating directly in a commercial market? Who holds TIRA accountable for deviation from its legal mandate?
These are not just policy questions. They are questions of democratic governance, legal clarity, and market integrity.
Call to action
TIRA must immediately rescind the authority of all individuals serving as “insurance ambassadors” who are not grounded in law. Their continued presence violates principles of due process.
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Also, all regulatory decisions should be made by certified professionals in insurance, law, and finance, not political appointees.
Public institutions such as the police, prisons, and military must be barred from operating as agents or brokers unless through strictly separated commercial arms that are regulated independently. TIRA should also establish transparent public forums for technical consultations, free from political interference.
A bipartisan parliamentary committee should also investigate TIRA’s deviation from its legal mandate and propose binding reforms.
Tanzania stands at a crossroads. The insurance sector can either return to a path of lawful, professional regulation or it can continue its current trajectory toward dysfunction and loss of public trust. We cannot afford to reduce an essential financial service to a political racket. The time to act is now, before irreparable damage is done.
Macos Crabat is a pen name suggested by the author, who preferred to remain anonymous. Still, the opinions expressed here remain the writer’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Chanzo. If you are interested in publishing in this space, please contact our editors at editor@thechanzo.com.
