The Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA) has announced its quest to locate the rightful owners of over Sh27 billion worth of unclaimed financial assets held by the authority.

These assets include unclaimed bank deposits, savings deposits, dividends from various companies, money from telecoms, unclaimed pensions, and Sacco deposits.

UFAA board chairperson, Francis Kigo Njenga, is calling upon the owners to come forward and claim their wealth in order to rebuild their lives and contribute to the nation's economy.

"We want this money to go back to the mainstream economy to help in the bottom-up economic agenda. The money is not useful under our custody, but should the owners claim it, the billions will help people fight the challenges bedevilling them, including sluggish growth of their businesses," emphasized Kigo.

Kigo made these remarks during the commencement of a three-day public sensitization drive between UFAA and Huduma Kenya in Thika.

The primary objective of this drive is to encourage members of the public to check the status of any unclaimed assets they might be entitled to.

Kigo took the opportunity to urge financial institutions to comply with the UFAA Act and surrender any unclaimed financial assets in their possession to the authority before October 31, 2023.

Highlighting Kenya's proactive approach in assisting citizens in retrieving money owed to them by institutions, Kigo stated, "Kenya is number one in Africa among countries that are on the frontline to ensure that the citizenry get back the money owed to them by institutions. The money can be used to rebuild the economy, and we are determined to make that happen."

To facilitate the process of reclaiming assets, UFAA is actively working to bring the public closer to their unclaimed wealth.

Some of the Huduma centres in the country have already established a UFAA desk, and plans are underway to promote this service in all 47 centres as part of the Huduma Mashinani outreach program.

For more information and to check the status of any unclaimed assets, members of the public are encouraged to visit their nearest Huduma centre or reach out to UFAA directly.