Why Kenyans are Leaving KSh 67 Billion in Unclaimed Shares and How to Get it Back

Kenya, 1 December 2025 - Kenyans have left KSh 67.16 billion worth of shares from 47 companies sitting idle in the books of registrars and custodians, unclaimed, untouched and legally “presumed abandoned.”

The Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA) records show Safaricom alone accounts for roughly KSh 20.28 billion of that total, with KCB Group, EABL, Co-op Bank, NCBA and others also carrying large unclaimed positions.

This is not a new problem, but it is getting harder to ignore.

Regulators and auditors warn that billions in cash, dividends and shares have been sitting idle for years. The Auditor-General and UFAA reports show that many of the idle assets are very small, in fact, a large share is below KSh 1,000, but the aggregate value is substantial.

That mismatch creates a policy headache: the cost of reunifying tiny balances often exceeds their value, yet sizeable holdings linked to big listed companies remain unclaimed too.

How do shares become “unclaimed”?

Shares and other financial assets are deemed unclaimed under the Unclaimed Financial Assets Act when there has been no contact between the owner and the holder (bank, registrar, insurer, SACCO) for a statutory dormancy period, or when records are incomplete and holders cannot identify the beneficiary.

Deaths, migrations, name changes, lost certificates, and failure to update contact details after an inheritance are common triggers. Sometimes the owner is alive but simply does not know they hold the asset.

Who holds the unclaimed shares?

The UFAA and media reporting show the lion’s share of value is concentrated in a handful of large, widely traded firms. Safaricom tops the list (over KSh 20 billion), followed by KCB Group and East African Breweries, with other big names such as Co-op Bank, NCBA and Absa also featuring. Collectively, dozens of registrars and custodians have remitted these dormant holdings to the UFAA for safekeeping.

Why people don’t claim, the barriers

There are several practical and procedural reasons people don’t chase their shares:

Lack of awareness

Many owners simply don’t know they own shares or that the assets have been transferred to UFAA. The authority runs public drives (USSD *361# and online tools) to help people search, but awareness remains patchy.

High claim costs for tiny amounts

The Auditor-General flagged that nine out of ten idle assets are worth below KSh1,000, but the cost of travel, notarisation and paperwork to claim such sums is often prohibitive. That discourages claimants.

Documentation and legal hurdles

Claiming often requires certified identification, KRA PINs, letters from registrars, indemnities and (in some cases) sworn affidavits or lawyer-commissioned forms, paperwork that can be costly and slow.

UFAA’s published claiming instructions set out several forms and identification requirements.

Complex inheritance or missing records

When a shareholder dies, next-of-kin may lack probate, birth certificates or updated records, making verification difficult.

Corporate actions, share splits, consolidations, migrations to CDS accounts, can also create tracing problems.