The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has announced the release of new Kenyan currency banknotes, laced with new features. The bank has made changes to the denomination of banknotes, affecting fifty shillings (KES 50), one hundred shillings (KES 100), two hundred shillings (KES 200), five hundred shillings (KES 500), and one thousand shillings (KES 100).
“The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) is mandated to issue currency as conferred by Article 231 (2) of the Constitution of Kenya and Section 22 (2) of the Central Bank of Kenya Act. In fulfilment of this mandate, the Bank has made some changes to the denominations of the Kenyan currency banknotes. The changes affect the fifty shillings (KES 50), one hundred shillings (KES 100), two hundred shillings (KES 200), five hundred shillings (KES 500), and one thousand shillings (KES 1,000) currency banknotes.” CBK announced.
The new bank notes will bear the signatures of the current Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, Dr. Kamau Thugge, and that of the current Principal Secretary to the National Treasury, Dr. Chris Kiptoo.
In addition to the new changes, the above currencies will feature the current print year, which is 2024, as opposed to the 2019 on the old currencies. The new currency banknotes come with enhanced security threads with color-changing effects specific to each denomination.
The CBK has, however, announced that the rest of the features will remain unalterable as those of the ones released in 2029. The CBK reiterated the effectiveness of the curret banknotes in circulation alongside the released series.
The release of new currency banknotes will be done progressively, with KES 1000 set to commence, as the rest follow suit in the next few months.
The announcement comes barely 5 years after the government did a complete replacement of the previous generational currency banknotes in June 2019. This was due to a series of allegations linking some senior state officials to graft, amounting to billions of Kenya shillings.
The initial Kenyan currency banknotes were in denominations of five shillings, ten shillings, twenty shillings, fifty shillings, and hundred shillings, all bearing the portrait of the independent president, the late Jomo Kenyatta
