National Treasury Cabinet Secretary (CS) John Mbadi has called on the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA) to leverage on technology to boost their compliance in fund management and reunification of assets with beneficiaries.
Mbadi said that the Kenyan government has been driving the digitalisation agenda, and the adoption of technology into the management of assets under UFAA will bring efficiency and optimise returns on the assets held by the authority.
The CS made the remarks when he paid a courtesy call at the UFAA office, where he explained that he is working on a programme to visit the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) under the ministry to understand what they do, listen to their challenges, and foster a working collaboration to boost their performance.
Mbadi said that the deployment of technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) will boost the chances of identification and verification of beneficiaries of the unclaimed assets, and once paid to them, the funds will help the economy and the families since the beneficiaries will engage in economic activities.
Records from UFAA indicate that currently they hold approximately Sh65.2 billion of unclaimed assets, with a total of 33,923 claimants having been paid Sh2.3 billion to date.
“The main objective of UFAA is to reunite the beneficiaries with the assets that were left behind by their loved ones, and your achievement and success are anchored on that,” highlighted Mbadi.
The CS reckoned that it is not an easy job to reunite the beneficiaries with their assets since the institutions that are transferring these assets to UFAA as unclaimed were themselves unable to reunite these individuals with the assets.
The CS pledged to support UFAA to enhance reunification of unclaimed assets, as he assured them of his full support and that of his ministry, saying that they will work as a team to see that they achieve their mandate.
UFAA Chairman Francis Kigo Njenga said that the authority initiated a voluntary disclosure programme through the Finance Act 2022, which incentivised holders to report and surrender unclaimed financial assets.
“Through this initiative, a total of Sh4.5 billion, which is the single-year and highest-ever remittance by holders, was achieved, with an additional 157 million units of unclaimed shares also reported,” said Njenga.
He explained that the Authority developed the Unclaimed Financial Assets Management System (UFAMS) that facilitates online reporting by holders, back-end processing, and tracking of claims.
Njenga said that the Authority has put in place several payment options to disburse payments to rightful owners, such as through banks, Sacco’s, mobile money, and cheques.
“The Authority established customer service desks at UFAA Head Office and at Huduma Centres in Nairobi County. In addition, we have established a Call Center, self-service USSD (*361#), and an e-Citizen-based portal to supplement our customer experience touchpoints,” said the chairman.
He highlighted that the Authority has been investing the Fund in line with the approved investment policy statement (IPS) and ensuring their safe custody.
“The Authority won the National Wage Bill Accountability Award for adherence to the Public Finance Management (PMF) Act and Regulations, Financial Accountability, and most improved towards 35 per cent on wage against revenue and mainstreaming productivity during the National Wage Bill Conference, 2024,” said Njenga.
According to Njenga, the Authority has established partnerships with key stakeholders like the Ministry of Interior, the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK), the Institute of Certified Investment and Financial Analysts (ICIFA), the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA), the Communication Authority (CA), Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA), the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA), the Huduma Kenya Secretariat, and the Office of the Auditor General, among others, to facilitate the implementation of areas of mutual interest with our stakeholders and enhance service delivery.
Njenga said that they have developed and begun implementing their Strategic Plan 2023-2028, which underpins the enabler role of the UFAA under government BETA’s finance and production sector through the aggregation, securitisation, and socialisation of the unclaimed financial assets for the shared national socio-economic prosperity of the country.
“We are also targeting to increase the reunification rate to about 20% annually of unclaimed financial assets with the rightful owners,” he said, adding that the Authority is considering options for converting non-cash unclaimed assets such as shares and contents in declared safe deposits to cash equivalents.
Njenga said that they are also intensifying public awareness and sensitisation campaigns to facilitate holders’ compliance and reunification.
UFAA acting CEO Caroline Chirchir stated that organisations have up to October 31, 2024, to submit unclaimed assets, and failure to submit the assets will attract stiff penalties as enshrined in the Unclaimed Financial Assets Act, 2011 Section 33.
Chirchir stated that organisations and individuals are expected to remit an additional Sh4 billion in cash of unclaimed assets and property deeds to have been declared available at the end of the 2023/24 financial year.
“We are expecting an additional between 300 million to 500 million units of unclaimed company shares to be surrendered to UFAA so that the same can be united with their rightful owners,” said Chirchir.
By Joseph Ng’ang’a
