Senators probe Sh8.8 billion held by State in unclaimed assets

 

A total of Sh8.8 billion in unclaimed assets is being held by the State, still awaiting remittance to its rightful owners, despite being identified, Senators revealed Tuesday.

A probe by the Senate Finance and Budget Committee revealed that out of an expected Sh11.5 billion in unclaimed assets, only Sh1.5 billion had been accounted for and returned to owners, raising concerns over the fate of the remaining Sh10 billion.

During a sitting of the Mandera Senator Ali Roba-led committee, members questioned officials from the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA) over what they termed as alleged financial mismanagement of the assets.

The inquiry was triggered by a statement by Nominated Senator Gloria Orwoba, raised concerns about financial impropriety at the body.

“…. investigate the discrepancies regarding unclaimed funds amounting to Sh10 billion that cannot be accounted for, given that only Sh1.5 billion out of Sh11.5 billion has been accounted for, and state any measures the Board has taken against the management in the supervising the audit,” stated Orwoba.

Denied wrongdoing

UFAA acting Chief Executive Officer Caroline Chirchir, however, defended the Authority against any wrongdoing, stating that it had put in place measures such as internal audits, external audits by the Auditor General, and regular asset recovery reports to its Board of Directors to ensure transparency.

She also submitted that funds under the Unclaimed Assets Trust Fund remained intact and were managed within strict regulatory frameworks.

“We have identified Sh11 billion and only Sh1 billion has been remitted. Another Sh1 billion was reunified at source, meaning it was given back to the owners who were wrongfully identified as having abandoned the assets. What is currently outstanding is Sh8.8 billion,” stated Chirchir without expounding on the nature of assets in their possession.

The House team questioned why the Authority had taken so long to return the assets to their rightful owners, even though they had already been identified. Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka pressed the CEO to explain the slow pace at which the Authority seemed to operate when it came to reunifying the assets with their owners.

In her defense, Chirchir attributed the delay to understaffing at the Authority, which she said had slowed down the reunification process. She explained that UFAA had been engaging with institutions that had yet to remit some of the assets and that these efforts would soon be accelerated.

“We have faced a few challenges in the process, partly because we are unable to follow through, as we have very lean staffing. We currently have only three people handling compliance matters, so we are constrained,” she explained.

Senator Orwoba’s statement also urged the committee to investigate the total amount of funds remitted to UFAA over the past five years, with the aim of addressing the delays in returning assets to their owners.

The Nominated Senator also highlighted the unlisted shares held as assets and asked about the measures UFAA had put in place to “protect their value.”