Editorials

EDITORIAL: Exhaust all avenues in tracing owners of assets

CASH

It is a matter of concern that an agency formed hardly six years ago has taken possession of Sh8.3 billion. FILE PHOTO | NMG

The fast pace at which the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA) is taking custody of private property is, to say the least, worrying.

By its very own mandate, UFAA exists not only to collect the unclaimed property but to look for their rightful owners who must be allowed to benefit from such assets.

The agency has, without doubt, turned the law on its head and appears only too happy to take possession of such assets despite some of the owners being easily traceable.

The law requires the agency to make deliberate efforts to find owners of unclaimed private property, but little of this appears to be happening.

Instead, the agency seems to be going all out to force entities in possession of such assets to hand them over to the State, leading to a rapid accumulation of private assets in the hands of government.

Going by its latest filings, the UFAA has handed to the State a total of Sh456 million from customers of Airtel, Safaricom and Telkom whose accounts had by June 30 remained inactive for more than two years.

It is a matter of concern that an agency formed hardly six years ago has taken possession of Sh8.3 billion. The cash is mainly from customers of mobile phone operators, banks and insurers whose customers remained inactive for two years.

Obviously, there has to be laxity somewhere. There is a real chance that both the UFAA and individual firms are not making efforts to reunite owners with their properties.

READ: Treasury gets Sh456m unclaimed mobile cash

For one, the firms – banks, telcos, and insurers – usually maintain elaborate contact details of their customers or owners when entering into long-term contracts with them. How it then becomes difficult for them to find owners of dormant accounts is puzzling.

Besides, when such assets are surrendered by the primary custodians, the UFAA is required to look for the owners, including use of mass media to do so. That hardly happens.

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Failure to look for rightful owners of unclaimed assets is the reason the agency makes surprising announcements that it has taken possession of assets belonging to prominent individuals.

Lest we forget, the reason the unclaimed assets agency was formed was so that the State could preserve and protect the interest of the rightful owners – not to accumulate and benefit from the same.