‘Secret’ wealth continues to accumulate at the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority, with the current unclaimed wealth amounting to Ksh10 billion.
In 2017, around Ksh8.53 billion lay at the agency, even as more Kenyans die without revealing their secret wealth and investments to the next of kins.
According to a financial statement from the agency, it received unclaimed assets worth Ksh10.62 billion as of December last year and reported 22.39 million units of unclaimed shares. This included Ksh371.75 million is in cash and cash equivalents, Ksh464.89 million in receivables and Ksh11.89 million in investments.
The assets are in form of bank savings and deposits, cheques and drafts, money orders and funds held or owing under any life or endowment insurance policy or annuity contract.
So far, no one has gone to claim the said assets, this is unlike 2017 where 1,581 claims were made.
However, some of these assets do not lie idle due to lack of information, but belong to wealthy senior citizens who do not bother to launch claims.
Some of them involve the first family, former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka’s family, former Cabinet minister Maina Wanjigi and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
The Authority has so far received claims amounting to Ksh421.2 million and 1.23 million units of shares from 6,667 claimants.
Of these, claims amounting to 166.9 million and 908,107 units of shares have been paid to 2,125 claimants.