President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya has unveiled new bank notes for the country. The unveiling was done during the country's Madaraka Day celebrations.
The new notes bear images of the iconic Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) and a statue of the nation's founding President Jomo Kenyatta’s monument at KICC. The 50 shillings note bears images that symbolize green energy at the back while the 100 shillings note bears agriculture-related images. The Sh200 notes bear images of social services, the Sh500 tourism images and the Sh1000 note, which is the highest denomination, bears governance images.
During the unveiling, Governor of the country's Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), Patrick Njoroge said the new notes will circulate alongside the old ones but put a deadline for the circulation of old Sh1,000 notes. In his words, “We have assessed the grave concern that our large bank notes, particularly the older Sh1,000 series, are being used for illicit financial flaws in Kenya and also other countries in the region. To deal with those concerns, all the older Sh1,000 series shall be withdrawn by a Gazette Notice dated May 31, 2019, all persons have until October 1, 2019, to exchange those notes, after which the older Sh1,000 bank notes will cease to be legal tender,” Njoroge said.
President Uhuru, after the unveiling was issued with samples of the bank notes, to demonstrate that its smaller size fits better in a wallet, just as Kenyans had wanted. He then displayed the notes that had been sandwiched in glass blocks for all to see.
The new notes were gazette on May 31, 2019, and are now a legal tender in Kenya.
