Why Kenyans should thanks Omtata over Uhuru on new generation currency

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday unveiled the new banknotes during Madaraka Day celebrations in Narok County.

Omtata had moved to court to challenge the central bank to remove the images of founding president Kenyatta and that of Moi and replace them with images of national heritage.

According to the constitution, it prohibits the use of portraits or images of individuals on the currency. The constitution states that notes and coins should only bear images that depict or symbolize an aspect of Kenya.

The new currency has come as a blow to cartels who have developed the tendency of stealing public money and hide them in their houses to avoid the arrest.

 

“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 To deal with those concerns, all the older Sh1,000 series shall be withdrawn by a Gazette Notice dated May 31, 2019,” He said.

Image result for uhuru and omtatah

He said that 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.

All the new notes bear images of the iconic Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) and a statue of the founding President Jomo Kenyatta’s monument at KICC.

Image result for New notes Kenya

The 50 shillings note bears images that symbolize green energy at the back while the Sh100 note bears agriculture related images.

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 To deal with those concerns, all the older Sh1,000 series shall be withdrawn by a Gazette Notice dated May 31, 2019.

To determine the authenticity of the new notes, Kenyans are urged to hold up a note to the light and check for a watermark from both sides. The watermark is of a lion’s head and a security thread appears as a continuous line.

According to the CBK guidelines: “If you tilt the angle, you will see the security thread changes colour from red to green on all bank notes. The 200, 500 and 1000 bank notes have additional rainbow colours on the thread.”

 

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