The National Assembly Majority Leader, Kimani Ichung'wah, has withdrawn a bill seeking to grant owners or claimants of unclaimed financial assets the ability to designate payments to another person.
According to National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula, Ichung'wah, who sponsored the Unclaimed Financial Assets (Amendment) Bill, requested its withdrawal after it was rejected by the Finance Committee of the National Assembly in December last year. "I have acceded to the request and hereby direct that the Unclaimed Financial Assets (Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 15 of 2024) stands withdrawn forthwith," affirmed Wetang'ula.
The bill sought to modify the existing Unclaimed Financial Assets Act of 2011.
The primary objective of the amendment was to grant claimants the authority to designate another individual to receive their unclaimed assets on their behalf. Specifically, the bill proposed changes to Sections 28 and 45 of the Act, allowing the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA) to release assets to a person designated by the rightful owner if the owner was unavailable.
