UNASHIG: Instructions for Requesting and Submitting the Unashig Membership Form, Plus Related Background Information

                                                                                           UPDATED: June 6th, 2021

There are currently three versions of the Unashig Membership Application form, serving three categories of Unashig Members. The original one was designed for UoN Academic Staff (present or past) as Full Members. The second was subsequently made available to present or past non-academic staff of UoN, as Unashig sought to extend the benefits of group health insurance – as well as other forms of insurance – to others under the same employer. Each person in the second category joins Unashig as "Associate Member, 1".  

 

The third form was thereafter prepared for any other Kenyans across the country or non-citizens resident in Kenya who wish to participate -- or indeed any other persons wishing to buy Unashig's CB shares or participate in other Unashig activities of interest to them, as may be approved by the Board of Directors. They join as "Associate Member, 2". All Unashig Members pay the same group insurance premiums set for the specific cover options that they may choose – and enjoy exactly the same Health Insurance benefits attached to their chosen options. Unashig Kenya PLC processes all insurance matters through its wholly-owned Unasi Insurance Agency Limited – which is licensed by Kenya’s Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA).

Upon receiving your written request addressed to unashig.kenya@gmail.com, the office will send you a copy of the form (or an online link to it) via email. Indeed, if you are reading this post, you will see that you can download the form yourself – as facilitated by the three links given below. You will then print and fill it. Following that, you'll need to scan, upload and return it as an email attachment to us at unashig.kenya@gmail.com 

Here are the three links which offer you a quick and easy way to obtain the Membership Application Form relevant to you, if you have access to a printer-cum-scanner – as we all need to have, nowadays. Just tap or click the link meant for you:

1. UNASHIG: Full Member Application Form [For Current and Past Academic Staff of UoN]

2. UNASHIG:Associate Member Application Form 1 [For Non-Academic Staff of UoN]

3. UNASHIG: Associate Member Application Form 2 [For Kenyans, Residents of Kenya and any other interested persons who are not Current or Past Employees of UoN]

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NOTE: To help fund Unashig's operations at the requisite level, you are all advised that any duly-filled Membership Application form that is received for any of the three Membership categories will be processed only after the sender pays the one-off fee of KES 2,000/-. Each form received will be assigned a unique number, which becomes the nominal Membership number after the fee is received. Additionally, Full Members are required to subscribe for one profit-sharing Class A (or CA) and at least 2 (two) profit-sharing Class B (or CB) shares at the prevailing price, as will be indicated to them from time to time. No Full Member shall be entitled to more than one Class A (CA) share. On the other hand, though Associate Members will not subscribe for any Class A shares, they will be required to own at least 3 CB shares. Further, all those who participate in the Group Health Insurance program will be required to pay an Insurance Processing Fee, which is currently set at KES 1,500/- per family for each annual insurance cover taken.

  

Since Unashig's self-funded group health insurance campaign (which is a version of crowd-funding) started in mid-2017, a total of over 670 individuals have enlisted in a nominal roster to express an interest in the insurance initiative. The vast majority of them are in the Academic Staff category. However, Unashig is registered as a company under Kenya's Companies Act. Thus, only those who purchase CA and/or CB shares become Unashig shareholders and likewise its recognized Members. Unashig currently has 227 Shareholders/Members. 

In conclusion, those 227 Shareholders/Members may wish to take note of the following figures released by the UoN Administration as a backgrounder to the 58th Graduation Ceremony in December 2017 (see the Advertising Feature on page 35 of Daily Nation of Friday, December 22, 2017): 1): Total teaching staff = 2,200 academics. 2) Administrative and Technical Staff = 4,000. [Around the same time, however, one senior UASU-UoN suggested a much lower number for UASU-UoN Members -- that is, roughly 1,300 to 1,400 UoN Academic Staff!]. In a word, the gross count of Unashig's shareholders/Members, currently, is the equivalent of 10% of UoN's academic staff population as at the end of year 2017.

Originally Published on June 6th, 2020

UAP OldMutual: Last Expense Application Form and Cover Details For Unashig Members (Revised on January 15, 2021)

Introduction

Unashig's Last Expense drive through its subsidiary, Unasi Insurance Agency, has been anchored since the second half of 2019 on details received from UAP OldMutual Insurance Company. There has recently been a resurgence of enthusiasm among Unashig Members and others for this kind of family cover. More details have been asked for, and more questions asked. We have now received certain specific details and more consumer-friendly answers, which the Unashig Management is pleased to share below.  

Readers are reminded that Last Expense refers to direct "Funeral Costs or Expenses" incurred as a result of a death in the family. These are expenses which cannot be indefinitely deferred or postponed, and must instead be immediately incurred in order to give the deceased a decent burial "within days".

Last Expense Insurance is an important focus of attention in the insurance industry, certainly in Kenya. The idea is that a Last Expense payout helps people to cushion those that they leave behind, or those left behind by the departed, from the financial challenges (or horrors) of burying the dead and recovering from the broader angst of bereavement. More and more families realize from their own experiences and those of others that Last Expense cover offers a crucial financial shield to surviving family members who directly bear the costs of burying loved ones -- dependents, spouse and even parents -- and living with the immediate consequences of such loss. 

In a new version released to Unashig in mid-January 2021, UAP Old Mutual has now significantly streamlined its Last Expense package, specifically with respect to the Agency with which a client may choose to deal with. Unasi Insurance Agency Ltd is specifically identified as the Intermediary.

Members keen to participate through Unasi Insurance Agency should fill the self-explanatory form provided at the link, and return it as an email attachment to: unashig.kenya@gmail.com.  There is no minimum number of participating Members required for the cover to start for any individual, cohort or group. We will forward Members' details and payments to UAP as they are availed in full. We expect that this will be a continuous process.

Read/Download: UAP Last Expense Application Form and Cover Details w.e.f. January 2021.

Key Aspects of the UAP Offer

This consumer-friendly Last Expense package is being offered by the same insurer already providing health insurance cover to a growing number of Members and Shareholders of Unashig Kenya PLC. No one is required to settle for a standard premium attached to a uniform level of benefit for all participating clients regardless of family size. As in the health insurance cover offered to Unashig Members, Last Expense cover now offers flexibility and variable cost as well. For example, a nuclear family (defined as a Member+Spouse and up to 4 dependent children) which opts for the maximum cover of KES 500,000/- will pay a premium of only KES 5,976/-. Every extra child added beyond that limit of 4 will cost an extra KES 900/-. Likewise, each covered parent (of Member or Spouse) will cost KES 6,120/-. 

In contrast, a nuclear family (as already defined) which opts for a cover of KES 250,000/- will pay a premium of only KES 2,992/-. Each extra child will add 500/- to the annual cost, while each parent will add 3,060/-.

Two other benefit limits are offered, and will cost even less, as you can see on the first page of the document made available. These are: (a) annual cover of KES 100,000/-, and (b) an annual cover of KES 150,000/-.  

 Other Key Provisions of UAP's Last Expense Cover
1. There is no minimum number of Unashig Members who must participate in the cover for it to take effect at any time. 

2. Only one spouse per Member is allowed

3 (a) Additional biological children of Member and Spouse, beyond the standard cap of 4 children, may be included in the cover at an extra premium per child ranging from KES 200/- to 900/-. 

3 (b) Children who are legally adopted may also be covered under the same terms.

4. For a Member without a Spouse, up to 5 (five) biological children, instead of the standard 4 (four), may be included in the Member's cover without extra charge.  

5. The minimum ENTRY age for a Member or Spouse is 18 years, while the maximum ENTRY age is 75 years. 
6. Importantly, there is no MAXIMUM age beyond which a Member or Spouse may be denied cover, if they have continuously paid for the annual cover before, and are able to continue doing so.
7. For children, the minimum age for entry is 3 months, while the maximum age is 18 years.
8. For full-time students , the maximum age runs from 18 to 24 years -- depending on the duration of study provided for and confirmed by the learning institution concerned.   
9. For biological parents and parents-in-law, the maximum age upon entry is 75 years, while there is no age-ceiling beyond which cover will be unavailable.
10. The policy for a given year lapses for a single Member with no covered dependents after a claim is made and paid, but the Member may renew the cover immediately by paying a new premium. 

11. For Members with 3 (three) or more family members covered, the policy for the year lapses after the third claim is paid, but will be renewed immediately upon paying a new premium for the next 12 months according to the family's new status and requirements. 
12. For individuals with a cover of KES 500,000/- and with specified preconditions -- cancer, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, major organ failure (or organ transplant), heart disease/angina, or HIV related illness -- only KES 250,000/- will be paid if death occurs in the first year of cover. However, the full sum assured will be paid for other family members.   

13. No benefits will be paid for a natural death which occurs within 3 (three) months from the start of the cover (even if the full premium has been paid). However, there is no waiting period for accidental death.
14. Only KES 250,000/- will be paid within 48 hours to a family with a cover of KES 500,000/-, provided that the required documents are provided. The balance of KES 250,000/- will be paid upon the submission of the requisite death certificate. This rule applies in the first year of cover. 

15. Regardless of the number of Last Expense policies that an individual or family may be covered under, the maximum sum that shall be paid by the underwriter is KES 500,000/-. 

16. The Insurance Act Cap 487 (Section 96) stipulates that a maximum of KES 100,000/- only shall be payable upon the death of an insured child under the age of 10 years. 

 




Released: June 4, 2020; Revised: January 15, 2021

MUSIC (Kenya+Tanzania): La Vie by Tanasha Donna ft. Mbosso

Play La Vie {Video}

            Thanks largely to Tanasha Donna’s polylingual experiences – Italian, Luo, Swahili, English and French – La Vie, featuring Tanzania’s Mbosso, is sung in a seductive mix of three spoken languages and an array of body texts. The clip in which we see and hear this January 2020 hit, fronted by this Kenyan ‘dame’, is put together with remarkably deft hands and, on the other hand, discerning eyes and ears. Ours is to partake of the thrilling and memorable fare.

            It is Tanasha’s looks and sultry voice that put us on notice in the very first seconds of La Vie. But Mbosso, with the cheerful passion and sure-footed charm with which he characteristically pursues the flame of the moment, isn’t left too far behind. Indeed, he bursts onto the scene fully warmed-up.

            But, as always perhaps, you hear here what your ear is trained to hear. Mara (now) it’s stylized and adapted Taarab. Mara it’s something new that otherwise sounds old and deceptively familiar and Eastern. Mara it’s a twist in the beat and the melody that your ear hasn’t heard before...

MUSIC: Pilolo by Guilty Beatz, Mr. Eazi x Kwesi Arthur

Play Pilolo {Video}

     Pilolo is, in this implied world-tour, an ode to the coming universality – to a world with no border walls or stupid bigotry – is how I read the dancing souls who pop up virtually everywhere, like time-travelers. There are no borders for the ‘country’ we call Time, and no one is even trying to build any. It would be akin to building futility. It’s far easier to fix to gaze at one’s own face in a pond, but no longer worth it.

     The word Pilolo, I understand, is rooted in a Ghanaian childrens’ game of hide-and-seek for 4 (or is that 10?) or more. You can’t hide from Time, either. Pilolo is plainly too big for one country, already – thanks to itself. Thanks, that is, to the visibility of it – of the song.  Time always was, and continues thus. All we can have, individually and collectively, are pieces of it...   

MUSIC (Ethiopia): Sew by Tsedi

Play Sew {Video}

      Sew, a 2019 song, is so much fun to watch. It lifts the spirits all around. There’s camaraderie everywhere you turn your eyes toward. Lukadem, all those people in Tsedi’s world! There are so many smiling faces you can’t count them, and wonder what really got them going if not Tsedi herself and Tsedi alone. It is like they’re filling the air, the way you blow into a balloon – and then some!

     Hey, I thought I caught a glimpse of Uhuru Park’s[1] look-alike, or something, somewhere there where Tsedi plays – where she sings and dances for all to see. Uncanny!

    Everyone is in high spirits there, seeing all that’s going on, on this day of fine sights and tantalizing sounds. You’ve just got to join them – after the fact, and in spirit. They’re not there when you do, but that’s OK. They’ll not be there, like that, for sure. Got to bask in the afterglow – as, yes, you can. Peeps wave their hands everywhere they have the chance to, you’ve just got to see, like they got something to never forget out of all this. It’s festive. You detect a certain sort of peace of mind that spreads and speaks for itself, and for all of us. What a special day on which to come upon this unbelievable and unscripted slice of planet earth!  

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[1] Uhuru Park is in another city (Nairobi) in another country.

MUSIC (Ethiopia): Duma Dume by Asgegnew Ashko

Play Duma Dume {Video}

Ethiopia’s Asgegnew Ashko (Asge in short) gifts us with an explosive and amazing dance-song, Duma Dume – published only in May 2019. He is, in it, himself a thunderbolt across the region. What a wild and sunny and, let’s admit it, surprising package of synchronized performances we have here! I saw it for the first time only on June 3^rd 2019. Out of the blue, it seemed, we had an awesome and unprecedented beat from Ethiopia and for Africa. Its ripple-effect will be felt all across sub-Sahara, even as we seek to understand its genesis. 

 

MUSIC (DRC): Cobetox by Koffi Olomide ft. Ferre Gola

Play Cobetox {Video}  

Sonar Boom! Cobetox, a 2016 clip, is off on its solitary and searing flight-path before you even know it. It breaks the sound barrier in just seven (yes 7) seconds. And yet that boom is not the main sensation here. There is another sort of breaching, which may escape attention in that ruffled air. It is all the glass in heaven’s ceiling shattering, as if on a cue of cosmic scale. This is not a fluke by any means. The subliminal meme in all of Cobetox is: Break glass – of this or that or any sort! Two DRC singers, Koffi Olomide and Ferre Gola, truly strut. The singing/dancing Divas are all the flavor here. All the shattering is on account of their inescapable vocal verve! Just you wait and see...