Assets whose owners fail to turn for 10 years should be injected back into the economy, the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority has said.
UFAA boss John Mwangi told Parliament's Special Funds Accounts Committee to consider changing the law to factor in the proposal.
Mwangi's proposal is the practice in the United States where assets are held between seven to 10 years after which they are deployed to other areas of the economy.
He spoke yesterday when he appeared before the committee to respond to 2016-17 audit queries.
“We are proposing that a timeframe is set so that we don’t hold the unclaimed assets forever. The law currently does not give timelines after which such assets should be taken back to help other sectors of the economy,” Mwangi said.
The authority has Sh25 billion worth of unclaimed assets. Sh8.5 million is held in cash while the values of shares reported and by shareholders are Sh16.43 billion.
“During the year, unclaimed assets regulations were gazetted and this allowed for the processing and payment of valid claims. We paid the first batch of 400 valid claims amounting to Sh34 million,” he said.
The least paid claim was Sh17 while the highest-paid claim was Sh7 million.
Maina said the bureaucracy involved in claiming the assets was a hindrance for beneficiaries.
He called for a simpler approach to be adopted to enable Kenyans to access the assets.
Kisumu East MP Shakeel Shabbir had questioned the complicated process one is taken through before being cleared to reclaim their assets.
“If honourable members do not know how you operate, I don’t know if Kenyans are aware,” Shabbir said.
Committee chairman Kathuri Murungi challenged the authority to intensify public education to enable Kenyans understand the procedure of claiming the assets.
(edited by O. Owino)
