winmak wrote:FRM2011 wrote:kayhara wrote:I just searched and found that I have some unclaimed assets submitted by Barclays Bank, I remember I had a student account when in college, I think the minimum balance was 500 which could not be withdrawn, I will try reclaiming it an see how the process is.
I submitted my paperwork two months ago. Dividends worth around 30K. They told me it takes 90 days.
Also discovered a dormant account with equity with 650/=. I didn't have the energy to follow up on that.
Will update on the dividends if they go through.
I gave up when I realized the small figure will be 'eaten' by the lawyer for certification of the required documents KIZUNGU MINGI ALERT!!!
Last week my journey to claim my measly dividends started at a registrar located in Bruce house 6th floor whose one of the directors is Tom Mshindi. The registrar staff were childish and petty with the tellers frequently fighting with the receptionists about giving clients tickets and who should serve whom.At some point the teller refused to serve an old guka since the receptionist had not issued a ticket.The receptionist had argued that since the teller had previously served the old man and asked him to step aside to get his paperwork correct, there was no need to issue guka with a new ticket since it was just a matter of guka stepping back on queue. But alas, time was wasted and guka got embarrassed.
I felt pity for old shoshos/dannys and gukas who were rudely being tossed up and down from reception to teller and back like a ball of ping pong.
My turn came and the teller asked me to rush to my broker and get the requisite documents which i did. I went back and found the shoshos with their share certificates still on the queue. One of them expressed her frustrations with the process. She told me she was from Limuru and has been sent back and forth from office to office and across the city of Nairobi in an effort to recover her ksh. 740 dividends from Citi bank circa 1998. She was determined and she said something in okuyo that loosely translates to ...."
I worked hard for my money under the scotching sun, now i am being told to recover it under the scotching sun and yet it is them(sic) who misplaced my cheque in the first place" I admired her patience, fortitude and determination.
After certifying that my documents were in order, the rude busy bodies at Bruce house wrote me a letter to take to Westlands office of UFAA. Since the shosho from Limuru had mentioned something like a lawyers stamp, i asked the teller at the registrar at Bruce house to clarify if there was anything that was required from me at UFAA westlands. He told me nothing was required and that it was just a matter of walking into UFAA and boom i will be M-pesad my dues.He handed me a letter and assured me that is all that was required.
To my shock, when i boisterously walked into UFAA offices, i was promptly informed by the motivated young man at the counter that i had to produce my National ID, my KRA Pin certificate, my latest bank statement, and a duly filed Form 4A all certified by commissioner of oaths and/or magistrate/lawyer.
For starters, i did not have my KRA pin with me(who travels with his/hers anyway?). Secondly, quick mental math told me the lawyers charges/stamp cost would surpass the money i was claiming. In short, just like KQ and Home Africa, my efforts would land me into negative equity.My day got wasted just like that.
Being the pragmatic guy, i gave up and told UFAA/GoK wakunywe chai na mandazi with my unclaimed assets while promising myself to "revisit" with the registrar at Bruce house for not putting this crucial information(Documents required) on their website just like the way immigration department tells you in their website that you are not going to succeed applying for a new passport without your aging mother's copy of ID etc so that you jipanga mapema before embarking on a 1500 kilometers journey from rural Marsabit to Nairobi.
Poleni senior citizens from far flung areas of Western Kenya, rural Makueni/Kitui/Nyeri/Meru etc not forgeting shoshos and gukas from Limuru. This our Kenya is not a joke. Serikali does not care and neither are those registrars/NSE/CMA or whoever it may concern...you are on your own.
For wazuans planning to claim their assets, just know that your registrar will send you to your broker first to collect certified statements, and when you come back they will send you to UFAA and finally, UFAA will not look at you twice if you dont have certified copies of the documents stated above.
Dumb money becomes dumb only when it listens to smart money