The yellow card insurance scheme initiated by Comesa states is being threatened by fraudsters, participants at the 34th Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) heard last week.

According to delegates at the bi-annual conference held in Rwanda, the progress of the project is dogged by forgery of yellow cards by fraudsters and delay in remitting subscription fees by some member countries. "The project is currently being threatened by fake yellow cards and late remittance of annual fees by some member countries,” Charles Madziva, the chairperson of the Comesa technical management committee, said. Madziva is also the chief executive officer of the Zimbabwe Insurance Council.The two-day conference on the yellow card scheme, a third party motor vehicle insurance programme, which is operational in the 12 member states, aimed at reviewing the progress and implementation of decisions and policies passed during two previous conferences held in Kinshasa in the DR Congo and Harare, Zimbabwe in 2012. But not all is groom as the scheme has helped remove the need for transporters to make stopovers at various border posts across the Comesa trading bloc to acquire insurance cover."With the Comesa yellow card, transporters and motorists do not have to buy insurance cover at each border post as the card is valid in all member states. So, this does not only favour an uninterrupted movement of people, but also cross-border trade,” noted Herbert Bamiika, the technical director at Sonarwa Insurance Company, who represented Rwanda at the conference. The bi-annual conference, the second to be held in Rwanda, was largely attended by technical management committee delegates from all the 12 Comesa countries. Over 150 insurance firms are participating in the scheme across the region, with about 50,000 cards issued annually.