Banks are currently holding approximately 77 percent of the country’s Sh4.3 billion in unclaimed financial assets, according to recent data from the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA).
This marks a significant increase from Sh1.9 billion in 2020, highlighting a growing challenge in reuniting dormant funds with their rightful owners.
The UFAA, established under the Unclaimed Financial Assets Act of 2011, is mandated to receive, safeguard, and reunite unclaimed financial assets with their rightful owners. The authority has been actively working to enhance compliance among asset holders and streamline the process of asset reunification.
ALSO READ: Safaricom Becomes First in Region to Surpass $3B Revenue
In its Strategic Plan 2023–2028, the UFAA emphasizes the importance of financial inclusion and literacy, aiming to ensure that unclaimed assets contribute to socio-economic prosperity.
The plan outlines key strategic objectives, including enhancing holders’ compliance, strengthening accountability in asset management, increasing the reunification rate of assets with rightful owners, and bolstering the authority’s institutional capacity.
The authority has also implemented measures to improve the efficiency of asset reunification, such as segmenting data using unique primary identifiers like ID and passport numbers, reducing the payment period to seven days, and introducing various payment modes through banks.
As part of its efforts to safeguard unclaimed financial assets, the UFAA invests available funds in government securities and other financial instruments, ensuring the assets’ value is preserved until they are claimed.
UFAA Board Chairman, Dr. Francis Njenga, urged Kenyans to come forward and claim their assets, stating. “We are looking for the owners of this Sh82 billion to come and pick the money. Our core mandate is not to receive the money and keep it; we receive and reunify the money with the owners. So we urge Kenyans to come ahead and claim their money.”
Despite the authority’s efforts, only Sh2 million is claimed monthly. Dr. Njenga emphasized the importance of claiming these assets, noting.
“The funds are safe and in the Central Bank, but for the years that one may not come, it is our responsibility to safeguard them. We do an average of almost Sh2 million, or a million, in claims each month that the public comes to our offices to claim.”
As part of its efforts to safeguard unclaimed financial assets, the UFAA invests available funds in government securities and other financial instruments, ensuring the assets’ value is preserved until they are claimed.
