Govt Tracks Down Kenya s Secret Billionaires
President Uhuru Kenyatta with KRA Director General James Mburu at a past event
PSCU
The government has put pressure on Kenyan companies to disclose their secret investors and shareholders.
The new regulation has made it mandatory for wealthy individuals who own more than 10 percent shares of registered companies to disclose their information.
KRA, security agencies and the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC) will have access to KRA PINs, national ID or passport copies, postal addresses, residential addresses, occupations, telephone numbers and the date when the investors became beneficial owners of the said companies.
File image of Nairobi Securities Exchange Market
Foreign Investors Dispose Ksh37 Billion After Crisis
File image of Kenyan bank notes
Twitter
Foreign investors have taken flight after dumping Ksh37 billion worth of stock they owned in five big companies in Kenya over the last year.
A report by the Capital Market Authority (CMA) indicated that the investors sold off their stake between November 2019 and December 2020 citing tough times presented by Covid-19 pandemic.
The capital flight has affected companies in the financial, communication and consumer industries. In one of the leading banks, the investors sold shares worth Ksh9 billion in that period.
File image of Nairobi Securities Exchange Market