Widows have to wait longer to claim funds

Thousands of widows and orphans will have to wait a little longer for the Government to finalise mechanisms on how to reclaim financial assets left behind by their husbands or fathers.

A taskforce set up in March 2008 to come up with recommendations on how Sh38 billion in unclaimed financial assets should be handled is yet to submit its report, the House heard.

Acting Finance minister John Michuki assured the Parliament on Wednesday that the report will soon be presented to the Government. According to Mr Michuki, the team’s findings were discussed with stakeholders last month.

The minister admitted that thousands of widows and orphans and other dependants may have suffered due to lack of an appropriate mechanism to claim the funds.

The minister was responding to a question by Mr Ntoitha M’Mithiaru (Igembe North, PNU).

The MP reminded the House that the minister of Finance had in this year’s financial estimates presentation indicated that he would bring a law to the House to spell out mechanisms of handling the unclaimed billions.

The MP said it was possible that the wrong people were benefiting from other people’s assets while their families lived in destitution.

“The law is not the issue at the moment. We need mechanisms to ensure the true beneficiaries access these financial resources,” he said.

In response, Mr Michuki said the amount of money in question was colossal and proper recommendations were expected from the taskforce, which will also be considered by Treasury.
“It requires very sober examination,” he said.