Unclaimed cash, shares and dividends handed over to a government agency have crossed the Sh75 billion mark, reflecting the difficulty of reconsolidating dormant wealth as investors, including businessmen, show lack of interest in recovering assets.
The Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (Ufaa) revealed that dormant assets stood at Sh75.5 billion in November, compared to Sh62 billion in June, reflecting a growth of 21.7 percent.
The authority said many Kenyans are still not interested in pursuing funds legally owned by them or their families.
Billionaire businessmen, powerful former government officials and prominent politicians are on the long list of individuals with shares worth Sh39.4 billion handed over to the treasury, up from Sh30 billion in 2021 and Sh16.42 billion in 2017.
The authority said it received Sh36.09 billion in cash in local and foreign currencies, up from Sh23.2 billion in 2021.
Safe boxes believed to contain jewellery, property titles, stock certificates and treasury bills rose to 3,737 units from 1,953 units in June. More than 9.87 million credit units whose values were not disclosed are also part of the dormant assets.
The funds are largely held by insurance companies, banks, pension plans, law firms, mobile money wallet pension plans, law firms, mobile money wallets, savings and credit cooperatives (SACOs) and others.
To date, the agency has reunited less than 10% of its billions of dollars worth of shares and cash with beneficiaries, representing 1.9% of unclaimed assets.
Unclaimed assets include money in bank accounts that have been dormant for more than five years, bank checks that have not been cashed, and contents in safe deposit boxes that have gone unclaimed for more than two years.
Reporting and surrender of unclaimed financial assets by all holders is mandatory and is due on or before November 1 of each year. Holders are encouraged to offer zero returns if possible.
The law allows Ufaa to impose a 25% fine on any entity that fails to hand over unclaimed assets.
In addition, the authority imposes a fine of between 7,000 and 50,000 shillings for every day the assets remain before submission.
The law requires the holding company to search for the rightful owners of the asset before declaring it unclaimed and referring it to Ufaa.
Kenyans remain uninterested in pursuing money legally owned by them despite the weak economy, while inheritance battles have in some cases derailed attempts to consolidate assets with beneficiaries.
Since July, Sh4.3 billion in cash, 170.3 million shares and 79 safe deposit boxes have been transferred to unclaimed UFAA assets.
Some unclaimed assets are related to the decedent’s failure to keep his wealth secret and the absence of probate.
precedent Daily chores A review of the authority’s public database turned up a long list of prominent Kenyans whose money helped swell the fund.
The list included former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka whose wealth was drawn from Standard Chartered Bank, KCB and Cooperative Bank.
Ufaa also had dormant assets linked to Bungoma Senator Musa Wetangula (now Speaker of the National Assembly) of NCBA, housing finance, East Africa Cables, East Africa Breweries, and unknown assets in Airtel Networks.
Also on the list was the late Minister Simon Nyachae, whose shares in KCB, Safaricom and Co-operative Bank were transferred to Ufaa.
The former minister controls a vast business empire with interests in manufacturing, transportation, banking and large-scale agriculture.
Longtime intelligence chief James Kanyoto, politician JM Kariuki and former Cabinet Minister Mbiu Koinange – since deceased – are among the high-profile individuals whose profits and shares in the agency were retained after family feuds led to a freeze on their property sharing.
The families of former presidents Daniel arap Moi and Mwai Kibaki also failed to claim some dormant assets linked to their late mothers – Lena Moi and Lucy Kibaki.
Ufaa had BAT shares of undisclosed value owned by JM Kariuki as well as assets owned by the late Mbiu Koinange, who was a powerful minister in Jomo Kenyatta’s government.
Sameer Africa, Standard Chartered Bank and Absa Bank have handed over dividends and shares owned by the late Kanyoto, who served founding president Jomo Kenyatta and then Moi as intelligence chief for 27 years.
Inheritance battles have deprived beneficiaries of a valid will or letters of administration required to gain authority over assets.
It is not clear whether companies that handed over assets owned by prominent families made an effort to comply with the law.
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