Kenyans Told To Collect Their Money As Ksh.63B Cash And Shares Yet To Be Claimed
Michelle Atieno
By Michelle Atieno
Published on: January 22, 2024 02:52 (EAT)
Kenyans told to collect their money as Ksh.63B cash and shares yet to be claimed
A file image shows man holding a thousand Kenyan shilling notes. Photo: Courtesy.
The Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA) has urged Kenyans to collect their money, which is being kept at the Central Bank of Kenya.
UFAA chairperson Francis Njenga on Monday stated that the authority will be at the Moi Stadium in Embu on Wednesday, where Kenyans are invited to claim the assets.
“We have a total of Ksh.63 billion out of that, Ksh.33 billion is in cash and 1.7 billion shares worth Ksh.30 billion,” Njenga stated.
Speaking to journalists in Embu, Njenga said the authority has been to Thika, Kisumu, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Nakuru and Murang’a where Kenyans have been able to collect their money.
“Since we began this program to reach out to Kenyans with unclaimed assets we have paid over Ksh.2 billion in assets and by the end of the year we want to have paid out Ksh. 10 billion,” said Njenga.
He added that the claims take 7 to 14 days to be processed, and Kenyans can file their claims by dialing *361# or by visiting the UFAA website.
Njenga said the authority intends to increase the availability and accessibility of services at lower levels as well as working closely with existing Huduma Kenya Service Delivery infrastructures.
He urged banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions that have unclaimed assets between two to five years and have failed to locate the persons to forward to them, depending on the nature of the asset.
“Failure to do so, the culpable institution will pay twice the amount under the Kenyan law,” Njenga stated.
Unclaimed financial assets include those that have been presumed abandoned and have become unclaimed assets under the provisions of sections 4 to 18 of UFA Act.
It also includes items that have been transferred to the Authority as unclaimed assets, and those deemed under any other law to be unclaimed assets and payable to the Authority.
It includes all income, dividend or interest thereon but excludes any lawful charges thereon.
By Citizen digital