The recent elections in Kenya have had huge repercussions in the country and beyond. When it was announced that President Mwai Kibaki had won the election by just 230,000 votes (out of 10,000,000 voters), widespread political anger spread across the country – and violence erupted. Subsequently, all travel to the country was discouraged and many people had to rely on their global travel insurance, which was confusing given the unusual circumstances. I will return to that later, but first some background on the events surrounding the elections in Kenya.
So far, 600 have been killed and some 250,000 people (more than Kibaki’s alleged ‘majority’) have been displaced. The reason for this is the ongoing allegations of electoral fraud, and the evidence is really starting to pile up, with numerous strong claims, including the head of the Kenya Election Commission admitting that one constituency had the surprising and unlikely result of 115%! Elsewhere, results were announced differently nationally than locally, with results delayed for 24 hours at a time when Kibaki’s election rival in Kenya, Raila Odinga, was leading in the polls. It is no surprise that the suspicion was widespread, nor surprising that the suspicion has sparked unrest, which has erupted in the violence that has since engulfed the nation.
One of the areas most affected by this is Kenya’s formerly bustling tourism industry, and is easily the country’s largest source of foreign income, totaling an estimated £500,000,000 a year. At the start of a year, Kenya could generally expect to welcome hundreds of tourists a day – the recent outage reduced the number to a brave few who had decided to ignore the Foreign Ministry’s inevitable warnings about travel to the country. which was subsequently placed on the ‘civil unrest’ list of places not to visit. Subsequently, the Federation of Tour Operators canceled all holidays to Kenya, and many people who had previously booked to visit the fascinating country had no choice but to cancel and hastily check the fine print of their global travel insurance policies!
Well, now the State Department advisory has been lifted and you can travel to Kenya again (although the FCO still advises against travel to Western and Nyanza provinces, Rift Valley province between Narok and Kitale, the central business district, Kibera, Mathere and Eastleigh areas of Nairobi, Uhura Park and Mombasa Town.) But what if something like this happens elsewhere? What steps should you take if you find that sudden and unexpected political fallout strikes a previously peaceful country to which you were to travel? While I can’t speak for all global travel insurers, this is the line we’ve taken with Kenya, and I suspect a similar policy has been adopted by our rivals for their Kenya travel insurance:
- If you travel with a tour operator, they should give you a refund or an alternative itinerary in a safer area.
- If you are traveling independently, you should be able to get a refund easily from your airline and possibly your accommodation provider.
- If for any reason any of these actions fail and you have a policy with us, we will reimburse you for unused travel and accommodation costs, under the terms of travel insurance in Kenya.
Obviously I can’t be sure this is the approach other global travel insurers will take, but I would imagine the vast majority will offer something very similar to those unable to travel due to the post-election fallout in Kenya. application in times of future turmoil around the world. If in doubt, contact your provider as soon as possible and discuss the exact terms of your travel insurance policy.
Travel insurance and the elections in Kenya – Your
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