Nairobi: National Treasury Cabinet Secretary (CS) John Mbadi has called on the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA) to leverage technology to boost their compliance in fund management and reunification of assets with beneficiaries. Mbadi emphasized the importance of integrating technology into UFAA’s operations to enhance efficiency and optimize returns on the assets managed by the authority.
According to Kenya News Agency, Mbadi made these remarks during a visit to the UFAA office, where he outlined his plan to engage with State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) under his ministry to better understand their operations, address challenges, and foster collaboration to improve performance. He highlighted that deploying technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) could significantly enhance the identification and verification processes for beneficiaries, thereby facilitating the disbursement of funds that can contribute to economic growth and family welfare.
Records from UFAA show that the authority currently
holds approximately Sh65.2 billion in unclaimed assets, with Sh2.3 billion already paid out to 33,923 claimants. Mbadi stressed that UFAA’s primary goal is to reunite beneficiaries with their assets, a challenging task given that institutions transferring these assets to UFAA were themselves unable to trace the rightful owners.
UFAA Chairman Francis Kigo Njenga discussed the authority’s voluntary disclosure programme, initiated through the Finance Act 2022, which incentivizes asset holders to report and surrender unclaimed financial assets. This initiative resulted in a record remittance of Sh4.5 billion and the reporting of an additional 157 million units of unclaimed shares.
Njenga elaborated on the development of the Unclaimed Financial Assets Management System (UFAMS), which enables online reporting, processing, and claim tracking. The authority offers various payment options, including banks, Saccos, mobile money, and cheques, to ensure rightful owners receive their assets. The authority’s adherence to
financial regulations and accountability has been recognized with the National Wage Bill Accountability Award.
Njenga noted the establishment of partnerships with key stakeholders such as the Ministry of Interior, the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK), and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), among others, to enhance service delivery and stakeholder engagement. The implementation of UFAA’s Strategic Plan 2023-2028 aims to increase the reunification rate of unclaimed assets by 20% annually and explore options for converting non-cash assets to cash equivalents.
UFAA acting CEO Caroline Chirchir emphasized the October 31, 2024, deadline for organizations to submit unclaimed assets, warning of penalties for non-compliance under the Unclaimed Financial Assets Act, 2011 Section 33. She anticipates an additional Sh4 billion in cash and property deeds to be declared by the end of the 2023/24 financial year, along with 300 to 500 million units of unclaimed company shares.