Kenyans holding more than Sh5m to contact CBK for new currency

Kenyans holding more than Sh5million in cash will be required to contact the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) in order to get the new Sh1000 notes.

“People who want to exchange amounts above Sh5 million will need to contact the CBK. We have, however, analysed these and found that these are very few,” CBK posted on their official Twitter account on Monday.

The CBK also said that people holding amounts between Sh1m and Sh5m will need to go to their own banks while those who do not have bank accounts will need to contact the CBK to endorse the exchange.

For Kenyans who have less than a million and have bank accounts, the CBK said they can exchange old notes at their bank branches. Those “without bank accounts can exchange at any branch of any bank, or even at the CBK. They will need to have official identification,” CBK said.

CBK gazetted the new notes that also include the Sh50, Sh100, Sh200 and Sh500 were published in the Kenya Gazette Notice of May 31 with President Uhuru Kenyatta unveiling them during the Madaraka Day celebrations in Narok on Saturday.

The new notes are meant to curb the flow of illicit finances and deal with counterfeit currencies with Governor adding that the new bills have advanced security features to reduce the possibility of counterfeiting.

The new notes are already in circulation and will be available in all banks and micro-financiers in coming days to avert any possibility of a cash crunch for Kenya’s biggest single currency note.

Kenyans have until October 1 to change all their Sh1000 notes in their possession upon which they will becomes invalid.

CBK said that there are 217.6 million pieces of the Sh1000 note currently in circulation amounting to Sh21.7billion.

The new notes that were gazetted last Friday are meant to curb the flow of illicit finances and deal with counterfeit currencies with Governor adding that the new bills have advanced security features to reduce the possibility of counterfeiting.

The move that was gazetted last Friday has already drawn opposition from a section of leaders and the human rights activists.
Senator James Orengo said that the new notes bear the portrait of the late President Jomo Kenyatta contrary to legal provisions that bar the use of human faces in new bills setting the stage for battles before the courts.

“Some claim we have no right to withdraw the current but we will have that moment in court, we have always had that right and used it in the past. This is part of the normal operations and currency management that we (CBK) have complete independence,” Governor Njoroge said.