Kenyans traced and recovered Sh4.5 billion in cash from the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA) in the year ended June 2023 on increased campaign by the State entity that is holding more than Sh50 billion in assets.
The UFAA says in its latest update the amount was reunified with the rightful owners, marking a 49 percent growth from Sh3.02 billion remitted in the previous financial year.
The Sh4.5 billion surpassed the Sh4 billion that the UFAA had targeted to remit in the period under review and also warned firms holding unclaimed assets to release them.
“The target was surpassed due to a moratorium campaign to encourage holder compliance devoid of fines and penalties,” said the State agency.
The cash remitted was in addition to 150 million stocks of unknown value being reunited with owners or beneficiaries of the shares left behind by deceased relatives. This was, however, a drop from 182 million shares that the authority handed over to the owners in the previous fiscal year.
The value of unclaimed financial assets reunited with owners or beneficiaries remain low despite the progress by the entity which was holding cash, shares and dividends valued at more than Sh50 billion at the end of 2023.
The UFAA puts the percentage of unclaimed financial assets reunified with the rightful owners at 3.7 percent as at the close of June last year against a six percent target and a drop from 5.9 percent recorded in the previous year. This means the assets are growing at a faster rate than they are being claimed.
“The target was not met due to inadequate staff and rigid legal framework where the current legal framework has cumbersome processes for lodging and processing claims,” said the State agency.
The UFAA is in the current financial year ending June 2024 targeting to remit Sh5 billion in cash and 350 million shares to help it meet a reunification rate of 5.5 percent.
The UFAA Act starting July 2023 widened the scope of persons entitled to receive payment or delivery of an asset to include persons designated by the rightful claimant.
Previously, payment or delivery of assets was limited to the person who made the claim. The change is, therefore, expected to allow flexibility on who may receive assets approved for disbursement by the authority.
A person claiming an interest in any assets paid or delivered to the UFAA is required to file a claim with the authority. It takes up to 90 days to process the claims and give notice to the claimant of its decision.
Currently, all claims require the same process, making it cumbersome for individuals with small value claims, which largely puts off most people from going after their idle assets.
