Kenya’s new bank notes formally unveiled, 1000-note to be withdrawn

The much-awaited launch of the new bank notes and coins by The Central Bank of Kenya finally came to fore Saturday bringing to an end the use of portraits of Kenyan individuals for native wildlife images and Kenyan heritage.

The new coin designs, which were introduced to the one, five, ten, and twenty shillings, paid tribute to Kenya’s environment and the nation’s rich abundance of wildlife.

Kenya made true a pledge to change the images on its currency when it promulgated its new constitution in 2010 – with the new bank notes and coins presented to President Kenyatta by the CBK boss Patrick Njoroge in Narok County during this year’s Madaraka Day Fete.

Dr. Njoroge while making the presentation further said that the existing notes would continue to be in circulation and gradually be withdrawn over time in place for the new generation notes.

However, the CBK boss said the 1000-note would be speedily withdrawn from circulation as an effort to eradicate fake circulation of such notes in the public and financial markets, essentially ceasing to be legal tender by October this year. Such old notes having been occasionally used in the vice.

The move will now see those holding millions of ill-gotten money not in circulation and not held by the banks or financial institutions, have difficulty in trading, exchanging or replacing such notes through the banks for fear of being held accountable to money-laundering.

The rollout of the new-look currency would commence immediately after a gazette notice on Friday 31^st May 2019, a day before the formal launch on Madaraka Day. The new generation notes had been undertaken by British banknote-manufacturer De La Rue.

Paying homage to major wildlife species is pragmatic given how much it promotes tourism, a key foreign exchange earner in Kenya.

The move is a vital one and is seen as an attempt to highlight Kenya’s diversity instead of celebrating specific leaders. When Kenya adopted its current constitution in 2010, the law dramatically decentralized power relations, promised for greater accountability and fairer distribution of resources. The law also dictated that coins and banknotes “bear images that depict or symbolize Kenya or an aspect of Kenya but shall not bear the portrait of any individual.”

Currency notes usually featured the faces of the country’s first and second presidents, Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Arap Moi respectively, while a limited 40-shilling coin featured the third president Mwai Kibaki.