This archive report was first published on 5 September 2019.
Published on September 5, 2019, the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA) revealed that close to half a million companies are still holding on to billions worth of assets and cash belonging to deceased Kenyans.
According to UFAA, compliance to the Unclaimed Financial Assets Act, 2011 is still low, with more than Sh241 billion still in the hands of banks, Saccos, pension schemes, and utility firms.
UFAA Chief Executive John Mwangi emphasized the importance of asset holders reporting and submitting these assets to the authority, stating, "We have more than 447,000 institutions who are still holding on assets that belong to thousands of families who may not know that they have assets they need to claim. They need to know that these assets belong to people out there."
As of May this year, UFAA was holding Sh12.7 billion in cash reserves and an equivalent of Sh22.7 billion in shares, foreign currency, and unit trusts.
Under a new policy, the agency will be able to sell the assets and build its cash reserves if they are not claimed in three years.
UFAA encourages members of the public seeking to establish the existence of unclaimed assets either belonging to them or family members to check on the listing posted on the UFAA website or through sending a text message to the shortcode 361#.
