Category: Business Daily

The High Court has dismissed an attempt by a supplier to stop the National Bank of Kenya (NBK) and its appointed receiver manager from taking control of a leather-processing business linked to Zingo Investments.

The court ruled that Yobesh Kenya Ontiria, trading as Hillbase General Suppliers, had shown only a contractual claim for Sh26.3 million and no registered security interest capable of overriding the bank’s rights.

NBK, which is owned by Nigeria’s Access Bank Plc after being acquired from KCB Group in May 2025, is pursuing recovery of Sh733 million from the leather processor.

The dispute centres on two Zingo Investments’ properties charged to NBK, which the supplier claimed had also been offered as security for payment of his outstanding debt.

The case pits an alleged unpaid hides-and-skins supplier against a lender seeking to recover a larger debt from Zingo, whose business and assets are under receivership.

Mr Ontiria told the court that he entered into a service agreement with Zingo on February 2, 2004, for the supply of hides and skins. He said Zingo stopped paying him in 2020, leaving Sh26.3 million outstanding.

He claimed Zingo had offered two land parcels as security for payment. He alleged the company failed to disclose that the properties were charged to NBK, saying a company search document obtained during due diligence did not reveal the encumbrance.

In an application dated May 4, 2026, Mr Ontiria sought orders restraining NBK and the receiver-manager from accessing, possessing, managing, selling or disposing of the properties, factory and business.

However, the court found that the alleged business arrangement had not been converted into a registered charge or enforceable proprietary interest.

“The difficulty with the applicant’s case, however, is that no evidence has been placed before the court demonstrating that the alleged security was perfected by the creation and registration of a charge or other proprietary security in its favour,” the court said.

It added that Mr Ontiria was an unsecured creditor whose remedy lies in pursuing the debt against Zingo Investments.

The court also said that Mr Ontiria had not demonstrated ‘any registered or enforceable proprietary interest’ capable of taking priority over NBK’s securities.

According to the court, a monetary claim against Zingo arising from the alleged breach of the service agreement cannot find an injunction restraining a secured creditor from enforcing its registered securities.

NBK opposed the application, relying on registered charges over both properties and several debentures. Its representative said Zingo had persistently defaulted despite acknowledging a debt of $5.6 million (Sh730 million) in a consent recorded in 2017.

The bank said it had issued demands and notices before appointing the receiver under its contractual rights. It argued that the supplier’s unsecured claim could not prevent enforcement of securities held by the lender.

Zingo, through director Robert Njoka, denied concealing the bank’s interest. The company said it was undertaking a technical and forensic audit of its accounts, transactions and obligations.

It maintained that NBK’s facilities secured against the properties had been fully settled and that the assets were unencumbered. The court said that assertion was disputed and could not, at this stage of Mr Ontiria’s case, displace the bank’s registered securities.

The court noted that NBK’s recovery rights had featured in litigation between Zingo and the bank. In March 2024, the court dismissed Zingo’s challenge to recovery efforts, while the Court of Appeal declined to stop enforcement in January 2025.

Although Mr Ontiria was not a party to those proceedings, the court said it had to be cautious about allowing an unsecured creditor to interfere with rights arising from securities litigated previously.

“In the circumstances, I am not satisfied that the applicant has demonstrated an apparent legal or equitable right over the suit properties which has been infringed or threatened with infringement by the second defendant (NBK) and third defendant (Receiver Manager),” said the judge.

The court dismissed Mr Ontiria’s application and discharged interim orders restraining NBK and the receiver.

The ruling did not determine whether Zingo owes Hillbase the claimed Sh26.3 million. It also did not conclusively resolve Zingo’s assertion that its banking facilities had been settled.

The High Court has quashed the Government’s sale of its 15 percent stake in Safaricom to Vodacom Group after finding that material information regarding the transaction was concealed from the public.

A three-judge bench held that the deal, which was completed on June 30, 2026, had been presented as a partial divestiture when in reality it amounted to a takeover that gave Vodacom effective control of Safaricom.

The court declared the divestiture invalid, null and void, quashed all approvals relating to the transaction and ordered that the 15 percent stake be restored to the Government of Kenya on behalf of the people.

‘A declaration is hereby made that the partial divestiture of the 15 percent of the Government of Kenya shares in Safaricom PLC was a camouflage merger or acquisition and takeover of Safaricom PLC and is in contravention of the Constitution and the law,’ said the court.

The government says it will appeal against the decision, but its attempts to convince the court to suspend the judgment pending the appeal were rejected. The court directed the parties, including the Attorney General, Safaricom and Vodacom, to file a substantive application seeking a stay of the judgment.

The court noted that under the arrangement, the South African multinational’s ownership in the Kenyan telco rose to 55 percent from 39.9 percent after taking full ownership of the investment vehicle Vodafone Kenya, through which it holds the shares in the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm.

The judges found that this critical information was not adequately disclosed to the public, the Cabinet or Parliament.

‘A declaration is hereby made that the partial divestiture of the 15 per cent of the Government of Kenya shares in Safaricom PLC was marred by obscurities on the proposed buyer, misrepresentations and concealment of material information on the nature and effects of the partial divestiture in violation of the principles of integrity and transparency,’ said the court.

The court also raised concerns about national security, noting that Safaricom operates critical infrastructure, including election transmission systems, government payment platforms and mobile money services, and stores the personal data of millions of Kenyans.

‘In the circumstances, even with regulatory safeguards, there is no guarantee that would prevent foreign and external influence or interference with the governance systems, personal security and data,’ the court said.

The judges added that any perception of external influence over election transmission systems could undermine public confidence in the democratic process. They held that transferring effective control of such infrastructure to a foreign entity without a prior national security assessment violated the Government’s constitutional obligations.

The Government had sold the stake for Sh204.3 billion at Sh34 per share and also received Sh40.2 billion through the sale of future dividend rights attached to its remaining 20 percent shareholding.

The transaction was approved in March, but it was delayed by a court order, which was lifted in June by the Court of Appeal after it ruled that the deal could be reversed if it was proved that there were anomalies.

The court faulted the Government for failing to competitively identify a strategic investor and found that the pricing process was arbitrary.

While the Government argued that the Sh34 share price was based on an independent valuation conducted by KCB Investment Bank and reflected a market premium, the judges held that the transaction failed the rationality test.

They also rejected the argument that selling future dividend income was a legitimate way of financing infrastructure projects, finding that converting a perpetual income stream into a one-off payment deprived future generations of the benefits of a public asset.

The court also found that although Parliament conducted hearings in 30 counties, crucial transaction documents, including the share purchase agreement and dividend rights agreement, were never made available to the public.

‘We are thus in consonance with the petitioners that material information and documents were concealed from the public, Cabinet and the National Assembly,’ the judges said.

The court held that public participation must be more than a procedural exercise but must be ‘real, purposive and meaningful.’

The bench found that the process was undermined by non-disclosure of material information, rendering Parliament’s approval constitutionally defective.

‘In light of our findings above, we hold that there was no reasonable, meaningful and purposive public participation in respect of the divestiture, thus violating Articles 10 and 118 of the Constitution,’ the judges said.

The judges further rejected arguments that the matter had been overtaken by events after Parliament approved the transaction in March, holding that the petitions challenged the constitutional foundation of the deal itself.

They also dismissed claims that existing regulators, including the Communications Authority and the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, provided sufficient safeguards, saying regulatory oversight could not replace proactive measures to address national security risks before control of a strategic asset was relinquished.

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) rejected Sh31.2 billion in offers from bond investors in the second auction of September after they demanded higher returns amid fears of renewed inflation pressure due to an escalation of the Middle East conflict.

The auction was made amid rising tensions in the Middle East after Houthi rebels in Yemen attacked the Red Sea shipping route and a key oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia, effectively crippling supplies from the world’s biggest producer and a key source of fuel for Kenya.

The escalation of the conflict has already sent the US 10-year bond yield above five percent for the first time since 2023 due to inflation concerns, setting the stage for higher rates globally.

In the bond auction on Wednesday, CBK was targeting Sh60 billion from a reopened 20-year bond from 2019 which pays annual interest of 12.87 percent, and a 30-year paper first issued in April 2026 at a rate of 12.5 percent.

Investors offered the apex bank Sh81.4 billion, out of which the CBK accepted Sh50.18 billion, meaning the sale fell short of target by Sh9.82 billion.

The high volume of rejections reflected the demands by investors for higher returns relative to the coupon or actual interest rates payable on the bonds.

On the 30-year bond, investors asked for a return of 14.47 percent, which was two percentage points higher than the paper’s actual coupon. Offers on this bond stood at Sh37.6 billion, with the CBK accepting Sh16.7 billion at a yield of 14.23 percent.

On the 20-year bond, investors offered the CBK Sh43.8 billion at an average asking yield of 13.67 percent, out of which the bank took up Sh33.5 billion at a yield of 13.61 percent.

The yields in the reopened bonds represent the rate at which investors are comfortable to lend to the government at that particular time.

In cases where these yields are higher than the bond’s actual coupon, the CBK offers the buyers a discount on the price of the paper to make up for the difference.

Alternatively, if investors ask for yields that are lower than a bond’s actual interest rate, then they pay the government a premium on the price of the bond in order to secure the paper. This normally happens when the government reopens a high paying bond at a time when interest rates are falling.

Ideally, a unit of a bond is priced at Sh100, with investors getting a return from the paper’s fixed interest rate.

For the 30-year bond, the price settled at Sh93.27 per bond unit of Sh100, due to the discount to cover for the yield-coupon difference. On the 20-year bond, the price was a slight premium of Sh101.54 despite the higher yield, given that it pays its next semi-annual interest in just two weeks’ time.

This was the second Treasury bond issuance this month, after the earlier auction of reopened 15 and 30-year papers on September 2 which netted Sh47.7 billion against a target of Sh60 billion.

This means that the monthly issuance has netted Sh97.92 billion against the target of Sh120 billion, from investor offers of Sh149.6 billion.

The National Treasury and CBK were however not under pressure to borrow at all costs coming into the September sale, given that the State had already netted Sh406 billion in net domestic borrowing it achieved in July and August.

This borrowing in the first two months of the fiscal year was equivalent to 41 percent of the full year target of Sh987.4 billion.

With the additional borrowing of Sh97.92 billion in September, the net borrowing has now hit 51 percent of the year’s target, given that there were no bond maturities falling due this month and Treasury bill maturities have generally been refinanced through rollovers.

Across Kenya, dog ownership is rising, particularly of large breeds kept for home security. But alongside this trend is a quieter problem: many owners lack the training, knowledge and support systems needed to manage animals with strong physical and behavioural capacities.

Experts warn that the result is a preventable public-safety risk playing out in homes and neighbourhoods.

That risk came into sharp focus two weeks ago in Mukurwe-ini, Nyeri County, where a 70-year-old woman was mauled to death by one of two guard dogs kept in her homestead.

Her adult sons, who no longer lived at the home, had brought in the dogs about two years earlier to provide security in their absence. The dog believed to have carried out the fatal attack is described as a chocolate-brown cross between a Boerboel and a Great Dane.

Since then, several theories have been fronted to try understand what may have triggered the attack. One theory suggested the elderly woman may have confronted the dog in a way it perceived as threatening. Another speculated that the animal may have been underfed or poorly cared for.

Edward ‘Eddy’ Ng’ang’a, a professional dog trainer and handler and founder of Alpha Kennels, dismisses the latter theory as unlikely.

‘For a domesticated dog, food alone is rarely a good enough motive for a fatal attack,’ he says. ‘If lack of food persists, dogs tend to run away. A severe attack is more likely to be linked to a struggle over dominance. Dominance ranks very high in dogs.’

The woman’s children are yet to have the dog euthanised, which Eddy says is one of only two realistic options after a fatal attack.

‘Once a dog kills a human, it poses a serious risk going forward,’ he says. ‘If the dog is to go back to whoever was handling it before, the better option would be to euthanise it. The alternative is handing it over to a professional for aggressive behaviour rehabilitation to suppress those instincts.’

Eddy is careful to note that not all dogs are predisposed to such outcomes. However, he points to a category of dogs he says requires a particularly high level of experience and control.

‘There is a certain type known as Mastiff,’ he says. ‘Dogs that fall under this category tend to be large, muscular and display strong behavioural predispositions towards dominance and aggression.’

Highly aggressive breeds

These include breeds such as Boerboels, Cane Corsos, Pit Bulls, Caucasian Shepherds, Rottweilers, Dogo Argentinos, Tibetan Mastiffs and Presa Canarios. Their imposing size, coupled with temperament, can be dangerous if thorough training is not done. The risk, he adds, is amplified when dogs are mixed breeds within this category.

Because of this, Eddy stresses the need for early and professional training.

‘These dogs only respond to authority,’ he says. ‘I usually recommend training from about two to three months old. By then, their instincts are already beginning to show.’

Why training is crucial

Training, he explains, establishes human authority, suppresses harmful instincts and teaches consequences for disobedience. Without such structure, dogs may begin to see themselves as the leaders of the household, making decisions about territory, food and perceived threats.

‘In the wrong hands, these dogs become a dangerous problem,’ he says. ‘Yet in the right hands, they can be some of the best companions. The difference is training and experience.’

Training also helps bridge what Eddy describes as a communication gap between humans and dogs.

‘Aggression is rarely an overnight outburst,’ he says. ‘It escalates over time. For a dog to reach the point of killing a human, there will almost always have been warning signs.’

The early warning signs

These include growling, incessant barking, bared teeth, raised hackles, intense eye contact and a rigid, upright tail. To the dog, these signals communicate discomfort or threat. To an untrained owner, they may go unnoticed until it is too late.

For this reason, the trainer advises first-time dog owners to avoid large, dominant breeds altogether.

‘Getting such a dog as your first is like throwing a first-time swimmer into the deep end,’ he says. ‘It’s better to start with a smaller dog. Once you understand how dogs think and you build confidence, then you can move to a more intense breed.’

Another trainer, Eric Odhiambo Otieno, founder of Nairobi’s Royal Brand, argues that the issue extends beyond training methods to the broader culture of dog ownership.

‘More Kenyans are pro-dogs nowadays,’ he says, ‘but we still don’t have enough knowledge about what responsible dog ownership actually involves.’

Common malpractices

One common malpractice he highlights is confining guard dogs during the day and releasing them only at night.

‘Dogs are creatures of habit, but they can also be unpredictable,’ Eric says. ‘You need to interact with your dog enough to read its body language instantly and respond appropriately.’

Beyond bonding, he adds, owners must consistently assert leadership. When commands are inconsistently enforced, dogs learn that authority is negotiable, a dynamic that can eventually lead to defiance, dominance behaviours and aggression.

‘Pet ownership is like owning a car,’ he says. ‘It’s not enough to just have it. You need to know how to operate it. While humans grow and take responsibility for their lives, pets don’t. You have to remain in the leadership position. If you slip, they tend to take charge.’

Socialisation, Eric says, is equally critical, particularly for dogs with aggressive temperaments. Regular exposure to humans helps reduce fear-based reactions and improves behavioural predictability.

He also warns against buying dogs from disreputable breeders.

‘You may think you’re getting a calm purebred, but undisclosed cross-breeding could mean you don’t understand your dog’s true character,’ he says, adding, ‘I’ve also seen falsified vaccination cards, which are crucial not just for accountability but for public health if a dog bites someone.’

How to act during attack

To avoid this, he advises prospective owners to seek breeders registered with the East African Kennel Club or those endorsed by a veterinarian.

Otieno also offers guidance on how humans should behave during an active dog confrontation – advice he says contradicts instinct but is rooted in experience.

‘Stay calm and try not to fight back,’ he says. ‘If the dog is pulling you, don’t pull in the opposite direction. Keep your hands in a fist to protect your fingers. Avoid direct eye contact or running away. If the dog wants to sniff you, let it, and project confidence. Don’t let them sense fear.’

Gen Z and Millennial investors are demanding more agility and versatility from wealth advisors and private banks in a move set to significantly shift the business practice in the industry.

This comes even as The Great Wealth Transfer is set to move a significant portion of global wealth from baby boomers to Gen Z and Millennial heirs over the next two decades.

Several analytical reports and white papers published by industry experts in recent months anticipate a global shift in the business of wealth management as new and younger investors come into wealth with different investment priorities, demands and expectations compared to their parents.

Gen Z and Millennial investors are demanding more agility and versatility from wealth advisors and private banks in a move set to significantly shift the business practice in the industry.

This comes even as The Great Wealth Transfer is set to move a significant portion of global wealth from baby boomers to Gen Z and Millennial heirs over the next two decades.

Several analytical reports and white papers published by industry experts in recent months anticipate a global shift in the business of wealth management as new and younger investors come into wealth with different investment priorities, demands and expectations compared to their parents.

Some of you did. Most did not. This month has handed everyone who hesitated good reasons to feel wise about it.

On September 11, a gazette notice recorded the administration of GT Flow Limited and Templar Field Limited. You know them by their former names: Twiga Foods One and Twiga Foods. A company that raised over $185 million and was once counted by TIME among the world’s 100 most influential companies entered administration under names invented for the occasion. Copia and Sendy walked the same corridor.

The timing is cruel. The conclusion is obvious. The conclusion is wrong.

Notice what we actually talk about. Starting: pitch nights, incubators, the announcement, the round. Then ending: the collapse, the gazette, the verdict from people who never carried a payroll.

Between those two conversations sits everything that actually happens. Ten years. Fifteen. Twenty. Nobody covers it. Nobody prepares you for it. Nobody comes with you.

Call it the unaccompanied middle.

I started building at twenty-five. I am fifty-one now. In all that time, nobody has described the middle to me honestly, and I no longer think that is an oversight. It cannot be taught in advance. It can only be accompanied, and we have built an ecosystem that does everything except accompany.

So what makes a person begin? Never the business plan. That comes later, assembled to explain a decision already made. What starts a founder is closer to refusal. You see a broken thing and cannot leave it alone. Less ambition than irritation with the world as given.

That energy is the only asset present on day one. Everything else arrives later or never.

Then the middle begins, and the five states stop being a framework and become terrain.

In mindset, belief has to run ahead of evidence for years. Not blind belief. Belief with an honest ledger: conviction held while failures are counted accurately. Founders who cannot do both quit early or lie until the lie becomes the company.

Strategically, you learn the difference between motion and progress, usually by spending two years on the wrong one. Every founder I respect has a season they would like back.

Emotionally, this is where the loneliness lives. It is not the absence of people. Your calendar is full. Nobody in the room carries what you carry. Your team owns a job. Your investors own a position. Your family owns the consequences without the controls. You own the whole of it at three in the morning, and that asymmetry does not resolve with scale.

It grows with it.

Socially, you find out who stays when there is nothing to attend. The ecosystem shows up for launches. The middle is not photogenic, and attendance drops accordingly.

Spiritually, you meet the question that outlasts the others. Why did I begin? If the answer was applause, the middle strips it out because the middle contains none. If the answer was the broken thing you could not leave alone, it holds.

So consider what the gazette cannot record. That $185 million did not evaporate. It moved through farmers, drivers, warehouse staff, landlords, and PAYE. Thousands learned to run logistics at a scale this country had never attempted, and some are building now. An administrator counts assets. Nobody is assigned to count what a country learned.

Failure is not the opposite of this journey. It is a feature of it. The only failure deserving contempt is built on deceit, and that is a matter for prosecution, not for shaming everyone who tried and fell short.

I will not sell you the glamour. It is lonely, it is long, it costs your health if you let it, and the odds are unkind. But I have watched the alternative. People who never began carry a different weight, quieter and heavier, and it does not lift.

So if that January line is still in your notebook, start with the middle in view. Find two builders further along and ask what the years between actually contain. Pick something you cannot leave alone rather than something that looks fundable. And once you are in it, accompany somebody else, because you will be the only one who knows what to say.

We celebrate the beginning. We autopsy the end. The middle is where the founder is made, and it is the one stretch nobody walks with you.

Commercial property developers in Kenya have stepped up construction of mini-malls, extending a real estate trend influenced by the consumer habits of a youthful population that sees the retail spaces as places for social connection and experiences, rather than just places for shopping.

A new market report by Knight Frank shows that investors have a pipeline of 645,300 square feet (sq ft) of upcoming mini-malls due for completion over the next three years.

A mini-mall is a shopping complex containing a row of various stores, businesses, and restaurants that usually open onto a common parking lot. Each of the retail outlets in a mini-mall is accessed from the outside rather than from an interior hallway.

‘The retail development pipeline remains dominated by neighbourhood and mid-sized shopping centres of approximately 30,000-100,000 square feet, reinforcing the market’s shift towards community-based retail,’ said Knight Frank.

‘These developments are increasingly anchored by supermarkets occupying relatively smaller floor plates and are designed to serve day-to-day consumer needs, reflecting continued demand for convenience-oriented retail formats.’

The pipeline includes Hookwood Square in Brookside, Westlands, with 60,000 sq ft, Maisha Mall in Tilisi with 32,300 sq ft, and Hurlingham Mall in Kilimani with 100,000 sq ft, all set for completion before the end of 2027.

Others include Talanta Mall in Dagoretti, accounting for the largest share of the pipeline at 323,000 sq ft, scheduled for completion in 2029, Lavington Square (70,000 sq ft) and Elgon Mall (60,000 sq ft), set for completion by the end of this year.

Knight Frank also noted that during H1 2026, the completion of the 100,000 sq ft expansion of Galleria Mall in Karen added new retail space to the market.

The expansion comes as consumer behaviour continues to shift towards convenience, accessibility and hyper-local shopping.

Retail strip malls, or strip centres, are transforming the shopping landscape in Kenya.

These open-air retail spaces, which consist of several stores aligned together with direct access to parking, present a convenient alternative to traditional shopping malls.

Mini-malls or strip malls, which typically range from 5,000 sq ft to 100,000 sq ft depending on location and purpose, are prominent in other developed nations such as the United States but are making their way into Kenya’s capital despite competition from larger and more established malls.

These locations are typically smaller than regular malls, with accessible parking near main high-ways.

Their growing appeal reflects a global trend towards accessible and cost-effective retail environments that cater to changing consumer preferences. The advantages of strip malls set them apart from enclosed shopping centres.

For store owners, strip malls provide reduced operational costs, as expenses related to common area maintenance are substantially lower. This cost-effectiveness allows businesses to offer competitive prices, making these retail centres enticing for customers.

Strip malls are also better equipped to withstand the impact of e-commerce growth, as they typically host essential service providers such as pharmacies, medical clinics and grocery stores, which necessitate physical visits.

As residential communities expand beyond established city centres, demand is rising for retail destinations that combine supermarkets, restaurants, pharmacies, financial services and other everyday amenities within easily accessible locations.

Developers are increasingly targeting residential catchment areas with smaller, well-designed retail centres that allow consumers to access essential goods and services closer to where they live and work, rather than relying solely on large regional malls.

A few years ago, developers focused on larger malls with an average size of 300,000 to 500,000 square feet or more.

The trend has shifted to more community-based retail outlets and strip malls, evident in rapidly developing satellite towns and suburban areas, where population growth and new housing developments are creating new consumer catchment areas.

Developers are betting that smaller retail centres can also offer them an opportunity to respond more quickly to local demand while requiring less capital and space than traditional large-scale shopping malls.

The growing emphasis on smaller retail formats could reshape Kenya’s commercial property landscape, particularly as developers seek locations with strong residential growth and reliable day-to-day consumer traffic.

Among the constructed strip malls, supermarkets remain key anchors, while complementary ten-ants such as eateries, personal-care businesses, healthcare providers and financial services help create diversified neighbourhood destinations.

As Kenya sets world records for digital use, more of everyday life is moving online, increasing the risk of isolation within homes and communities.

The Global Wellness Institute reports that Kenyans spend more time on social media than people in any other country, with 20 percent averaging more than six hours a day. It also ranks Kenyans as the world’s heaviest users of artificial intelligence tools. Gallup, meanwhile, found that 26 percent of Kenyan employees experienced loneliness for much of the previous day.

Banking, shopping, entertainment, work and social interaction can increasingly happen without leaving home. While this convenience has improved daily life, it has also reduced the everyday encounters through which neighbours become familiar and communities take shape.

As Kenya sets world records for digital use, more of everyday life is moving online, increasing the risk of isolation within homes and communities.

The Global Wellness Institute reports that Kenyans spend more time on social media than people in any other country, with 20 percent averaging more than six hours a day. It also ranks Kenyans as the world’s heaviest users of artificial intelligence tools. Gallup, meanwhile, found that 26 percent of Kenyan employees experienced loneliness for much of the previous day.

Banking, shopping, entertainment, work and social interaction can increasingly happen without leaving home. While this convenience has improved daily life, it has also reduced the everyday encounters through which neighbours become familiar and communities take shape.

Kenya’s unclaimed financial assets fund has grown by 8.41 percent (Sh10 billion) in eight months, reflecting a growing trend of citizens losing track of their wealth, as holding companies ramped up reporting compliance to avoid a 25 percent financial penalty.

Latest disclosures by the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (Ufaa) show the value of abandoned wealth remitted to the State-owned agency to date surged by Sh9.7 billion to Sh125 billion from Sh115.03 billion in December 2025.

However, only Sh3.12 billion, equivalent to 2.49 percent of the total unclaimed assets remitted (Sh125 billion), has been reunited to the beneficial owners.

Section 33 of the Unclaimed Financial Assets Act (2011) provides that failure to report and surrender qualifying unclaimed financial assets by November 1 of each year attracts penalties and sanctions of 25 percent of the unclaimed financial assets held.

In addition, failure of a holder to willingly and fully report any unclaimed financial assets under their custody renders them liable for a penalty of Sh7,000, but not more than Sh50,000 for each day the report is held.

These dormant assets include forgotten wealth comprising idle bank accounts, uncollected insurance payouts, abandoned shares and dividends, and dormant mobile money accounts.

Faced with heavy penalties for holding onto dormant accounts, commercial banks, listed companies, insurance firms, and telecommunication companies have accelerated their reporting and remittance of the dormant assets.

Ufaa began receiving unclaimed financial assets from holders in 2014 and reuniting them with beneficiaries in 2016.

However, the Auditor General, in a report dated August 2025, says the rate of unification is still significantly low.

Ufaa has lined up a raft of policy changes, including easing penalties and extending the dormancy period, in a bid to mop up idle resources in the country.

The authority is seeking to extend the time listed companies and saccos have to look for the rightful owners of dividends by two years before such assets can be declared abandoned and handed over to the agency.

The Unclaimed Financial Assets (Amendment) Bill proposes that shares and dividends be presumed abandoned after five years, up from the current three years.

Dividends are deemed abandoned when payouts fail to reach intended owners due to outdated contact details, uncashed physical cheques, or inactive bank accounts.

Listed firms and saccos will now have more time to locate the owners of the financial assets before turning them over to Ufaa which has an even harder task of identifying the investors whose details it gets from third parties.

As of June this year, listed companies had submitted Sh5.3 billion to the authority, leaving more than Sh8.5 billion in unclaimed dividends in their books. Saccos had remitted Sh160 million to the authority, leaving them holding Sh16.5 billion worth of unclaimed dividends.

Ufaa is also looking to soften penalties levied on companies that have idle resources in their books to encourage them to voluntarily submit what they are holding.

The Bill proposes a penalty of 25 percent of the value of unremitted assets, a departure from the current law, which has three types of penalties.

Non-compliant companies are charged 25 percent of the unsurrendered unclaimed assets and are levied a penalty of between Sh7,000 and Sh50,000 for each day that the assets stayed before being submitted.

An interest of one percent per month is also charged on the unclaimed assets based on the assumption that the resources were earning the company a return.

Executives of the non-remitting company can also be penalised with a sum of up to Sh 1 million for the non-remittance and could be imprisoned for a period not exceeding a year.

A survey conducted last year showed unclaimed assets valued at Sh394.9 billion are yet to be remitted to Ufaa, which has only received Sh125 billion in shares and cash.

Commercial banks are said to hold the largest share of unremitted assets, at Sh133.8 billion. The manufacturing sector holds Sh24.2 billion in unremitted wages, according to the survey, while universities have Sh8.3 billion associated with caution money deposited with the institutions by first-year students.

When one of her cats fell sick, first with diarrhoea, then later with calicivirus, Joan Bingi did not see the bill coming. By the time treatment was done, she had spent Sh18,500. It remains the biggest bill she has paid in more than a decade of keeping cats.

“The one thing that I had not anticipated about becoming a pet owner is their treatment costs,” she says. “These include vaccines as well as boosters.”

Joan has four cats now, two adults and two kittens, and her monthly spending shifts depending on who needs what. She got her oldest cat in 2014, after a stray wandered into the family compound.

She spends about Sh4,500 a month on the four cats, though the figure goes up when kittens are in the mix. Most of it goes to food. A large compound helps her avoid heavy litter costs, since the cats have room to roam.

For years, healthcare was not a concern. Her cats stayed healthy, and she assumed that would continue.

“I guess there was a kind of protective bubble around me because the first time any of my cats fell sick was like five years later in 2020,” she says. “After that, it’s like the bubble burst. I was paying for treatments year in and year out .”

She now budgets roughly Sh3,500 a month for food and tries to put aside another Sh500 to Sh700 for vaccines and treatment. When that is not enough, she dips into her personal savings. “Health-wise, I spend more on my cats than myself, but it’s my love for them that enables me to do so,” she says.

Build a dedicated fund

Joan’s experience is exactly what Joyce Gikonyo, a financial advisor at ICEA LION Group, sees as the biggest blind spot for pet owners. People budget for food, but medical costs catch them off guard, especially as an animal ages.

“Medical emergencies such as surgery can cost hundreds of thousands of shillings,” Joyce says. “As animals age, they can also develop chronic conditions requiring regular medication and specialised care.”

Her advice is to build a dedicated fund for the pet before the bills arrive, not after. “Have a seed amount as a starting safety net; this depends on all the variables outlined above. Build on the fund monthly,” she says.

William Papateti, a 29-year-old accountant and creative professional, learned a version of that lesson without the big bill. His cat once fell four floors and broke its leg. He braced for an expensive vet visit, but nature took its course.

“He rested for two days, only eating and pooping, then the leg healed on its own,” William says.

His routine costs are more predictable. He spends about Sh2,500 a month, with a kilo of dry food lasting a month at Sh765, wet tuna packets at Sh100 each for about five packets, and litter at Sh1,250. He has also bought toys and accessories, a neck bandana, catnip, a scratcher, a nail cutter and a ball, ordered from China through AliExpress for about Sh1,000. He has skipped neutering, which would cost roughly Sh7,500.

His advice to anyone thinking about getting a cat is to set aside about Sh3,000 a month “for the cat to be comfortable and happy.”

Joyce says this kind of routine spending is exactly what should be separated from the occasional, unpredictable costs when a household plans a pet budget. Recurring items like food and litter can be forecast with some accuracy, she says, while medical and emergency costs need their own cushion. She points to money market funds as one practical tool for owners.

“Money Market Funds are useful tools that can help separate the pet expenses from the domestic ones,” she says.

Sh25,000 monthly

Gilbert Otieno’s expenses sit in a different bracket altogether. He owns two Siberian Huskies, Tiana and Bella, and paid Sh90,000 and Sh100,000 for them, respectively. Tiana is two years and two months old. Bella is one year and four months old. He bought both as puppies, drawn in by the breed’s blue eyes.

The purchase price was only the start. Gilbert spends up to Sh25,000 a month on food and vaccines, depending on the dogs’ age and needs. Puppy vaccinations cost more early on. Now that both dogs are adults, annual vaccinations run about Sh10,000, and a typical month costs him roughly Sh15,000 for food and vaccines combined.

His biggest single expense came when Tiana developed an ear infection after swimming and needed an urgent vet visit. The bill topped Sh15,000, and he did not have the cash on hand at the time. “I had to find a way to take her for a vet check-up,” he says.

That scare pushed him to start keeping an emergency fund, especially since Huskies, he says, have a habit of eating things that are toxic to them.

The smaller costs- treats, chew toys, cleaning products, leashes and grooming supplies- add up in ways he did not plan for. Keeping the dogs entertained is its own expense too. Walks are free, but toys and enrichment items are not, and Huskies need both regularly.

“I wish I had understood how much the smaller expenses add up. Especially toys, leashes and grooming products. Not to mention the commitment,” he says.

Pet insurance

This is precisely the kind of gap Joyce flags when she tells clients to think beyond the animal’s purchase price. Food, medical care, grooming, housing, and items such as beds, leashes and toys should all be part of the initial calculation, she says, along with training costs and the risk of property damage. She also recommends pet insurance as a safeguard against a bill like the one that caught Gilbert off guard.

Arvin Munyiri Murimi’s costs are more modest, but still caught him off guard. The 28-year-old senior art director, who calls himself a cat dad, spends between Sh2,000 and Sh5,000 a month.

“What I failed to budget for was the food and cat litter, especially with the cat being a house cat,” he says.

His cat has stayed largely healthy aside from routine deworming.

“I think it’s greatly attributed to the fact that he has a good diet. Apart from that one time I spent Sh5,000 on medication and specialised food,” Arvin says.

He is reluctant to set a fixed monthly minimum, arguing that cost depends heavily on how the animal lives. “It depends if it’s a house cat or one that goes out and comes around to sleep,” he says.

Ms Gikonyo says that variability is normal, and it is exactly why she tells owners to build their pet budget around their own animal’s circumstances rather than a generic figure. Food costs shift with an animal’s size, breed and health. Grooming needs depend on the breed. An indoor cat and an outdoor cat will never cost the same to keep, even within the same species.

She further advises pet owners to separate recurring costs from occasional and discretionary ones, cut spending where it is safe to do so, such as buying food in bulk or grooming pets at home, and keep the pet’s finances apart from the household’s day-to-day money.