Unclaimed Financial Assets in Kenya: How to Search UFAA and Claim Your Dividends, Shares and Dormant Accounts (2026)

Every year Kenyan companies, banks and insurers hand over money that belongs to ordinary people and that nobody has come to collect: dividends on shares bought during the Safaricom or KenGen IPOs and forgotten, bank accounts opened for a job that ended, insurance policies that matured while the policyholder had moved. In 2025 alone the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority received a record KSh 5.18 billion of it, while the number of people coming forward to claim actually fell.

If you, a parent or a late relative ever owned shares on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, held a bank account, or had a life policy, there is a real chance some of that money is sitting with UFAA under your name. This guide explains what UFAA is, how to search in two minutes, and exactly how to get the money back.

What UFAA is, and why the money ends up there

The Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority is a state agency created by the Unclaimed Financial Assets Act of 2011. The law requires every "holder" of other people's money, banks, listed companies and their share registrars, insurers, pension schemes, utilities and employers, to trace the owner and, if the asset stays unclaimed for a set period, hand it over to UFAA. UFAA then holds it in trust until the owner or their heirs claim it. Two things matter here: you never lose ownership, and there is no deadline. Money reported to UFAA ten years ago can still be claimed today.

What counts as unclaimed, and after how long

For investors the important line is the first one. If you bought shares and the dividend cheques or EFTs stopped reaching you, after three years the company's registrar reports the unpaid dividends, and in many cases the shares themselves, to UFAA.

Step one: search. It takes two minutes and it is free

You can check whether UFAA is holding anything in your name in three ways:

1. Online: the UFAA search portal (reunify.ufaa.go.ke, linked from ufaa.go.ke) lets you search by name or ID number.
2. By phone: dial *361# on any Kenyan mobile network and follow the prompts.
3. In person: any Huduma Centre, or UFAA's offices at Pacis Centre, Westlands, Nairobi.

Search your own name and ID, then do the same for parents, grandparents and any relative who ever worked formally or bought IPO shares. Search name variations too (with and without middle names, maiden names), because that is exactly how assets get lost.

If it is less than three years: go to the registrar, not UFAA

If a dividend was declared recently, it will not be at UFAA yet. It is still with the company's share registrar. In Kenya the main registrars are Image Registrars, Custody & Registrar Services (C&R) and Comprac; every listed company names its registrar on its investor page. Call or email them with your CDS account number and ID and ask them to update your bank details or M-PESA number and release the payment. Our Kenya dividend calendar shows which companies have declared and paid this year, so you can see what you may have missed.

Step two: the claim, if UFAA is holding your money

The process is paperwork, not a fight. For an original owner (the money is yours and you are alive):

1. Download Form 4A (Original Owner Claim) and Form 5 (Indemnity Agreement) from ufaa.go.ke, or collect them at UFAA or a Huduma Centre.
2. Have both forms witnessed by a Commissioner of Oaths (most advocates offer this for a small fee).
3. Attach a certified copy of your national ID or passport, a copy of your KRA PIN certificate, a completed bank details form with a recent bank statement, and, where you have it, the letter from the holder (the bank, company or registrar) confirming they remitted the asset to UFAA. If your names differ across documents, add a sworn affidavit explaining the difference.
4. Lodge the claim in person, at a Huduma Centre, or through the e-Citizen portal.

UFAA's service standard is to process a fully supported original-owner claim within 30 days and pay into the bank account you provided.

For beneficiaries of a deceased owner, the form is Form 4B (Beneficiary Claim) plus Form 5, with the same identity and bank documents for the claimant and the succession paperwork: death certificate, and the grant of letters of administration or probate that names you as entitled. Beneficiary claims are processed within 90 days. If several relatives are entitled, they should agree on one claimant or lodge together.

There is no charge for claiming from UFAA. Anyone asking for an upfront "release fee" is not UFAA.

If you live abroad

Diaspora Kenyans can search online and dial *361# on a Kenyan line. Claim forms can be signed before a Kenyan embassy or high commission or a notary, and the certified ID copies and bank details work the same way; payment goes to the Kenyan bank account you name. Expect it to take longer than 30 days if documents move by post.

Shares: what comes back, and what happens next

Where the registrar transferred the shares themselves to UFAA (not just the dividends), UFAA holds the shares and any dividends that accrue. On a successful claim the shares can be transferred back to a CDS account in your name, and accrued dividends paid to your bank. That is worth knowing because Kenyan blue chips paid dividends of 6 to 12 percent a year through 2024 and 2025 and rose sharply in price; a forgotten IPO allocation of Safaricom or KenGen from the 2000s can be worth far more today than the original cost. Check the current price of any share you recover on its Mansa Markets page, for example Safaricom, KCB, Equity Group or EABL.

How to make sure this never happens to you again

The reason dividends go unclaimed is almost always stale contact or bank details. Three habits fix it:

• Keep your CDS account details current. Any change of bank account, phone number or address goes to your broker or the CDSC. Dividends are paid to whatever bank mandate is on file.
• Hold shares in a CDS account in your own name, and keep the account number where your family can find it. Pooled or nominee arrangements are fine for small amounts, but your own CDS account is what makes shares easy to trace and easy to inherit.
• Tell someone. Most assets reported to UFAA belonged to people whose families did not know the shares or accounts existed. A one-page list of accounts, kept with your ID and KRA PIN, is the cheapest estate plan in Kenya.

If you are starting from zero, our step-by-step guide to how to buy shares in Kenya covers opening a CDS account with a broker, an app, or through M-PESA.

Quick answers

Is there a deadline to claim from UFAA? No. Ownership is never lost and claims are accepted at any time.

Does UFAA charge a fee? No. Your only costs are the Commissioner of Oaths and any certified copies.

Can I check on behalf of a late parent? Yes. Search their name and ID; if there is a match, claim as a beneficiary with Form 4B and the succession documents.

Why is my recent dividend not at UFAA? Because it is not unclaimed yet. Dividends and shares only go to UFAA after three years; before that, the company's registrar still holds them.

How do I contact UFAA? ufaa.go.ke · info@ufaa.go.ke · 020 4023000 · Pacis Centre, 2nd Floor, Westlands, Nairobi, or any Huduma Centre.

This article is information, not legal advice. Forms, timelines and contact details were checked in August 2026 against UFAA's published guidance and the Unclaimed Financial Assets Act; confirm current requirements with UFAA before filing.