Tedious journey to new currency that kicked off in 2010

When President Uhuru Kenyatta pulled a surprise by unveiling new currency notes on Madaraka Day yesterday, it was a conclusion of a tedious and long journey of getting political faces off Kenyan money. 

In the 2010 constitutional referendum, Kenyans had overwhelmingly voted to remove images of individuals in the currency after former President Mwai Kibaki reneged on his campaign promise of keeping his image off the money.

But what Kenyans had overwhelmingly voted for was soon to be caught up in big tender battles affecting the timelines for the launch of new currency. However, last October, the Court of Appeal cleared the way for printing of new currencies.

“This legal challenge was the final hurdle stopping CBK from issuing the new generation bank notes. CBK will now reassess the timeline for issuing these bank notes, and will proceed with all due haste,” CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge said at the time.

The road to yesterday’s events stretches way back in the 19th century when Arabs introduced currency in the region.

In December 1919, a decision was made to replace the Mombasa Currency Board with a London based East African Currency Board (EACB).

Economic strength

At the same time, it was considered opportune to change the currency from Rupees and Cents to one convertible to sterling, thereby severing the link with India and implicitly reducing the economic strength of the Asian community.

The newly established EACB introduced an intermediate currency based on the English Florin with the thought that it would ease the transformation from Rupee to Shilling.

The Florin would be the same size and shape as the Rupee and also be of silver substrate. This then became the advent of the shilling in Kenya.

The shilling was however interchangeably used with the pound at a rate of 20 shillings to the pound and eventually, only shillings and cents were used to independence.

For the banknotes, the interim currency was commonly known as the “Lake Issue” currency because of the background of Lake Victoria on the notes.

The notes all showed a dhow on Lake Victoria which was common territory to the three countries. The Lake Victoria designed notes were in the denominations of  Sh5, Sh10, Sh20 and Sh100.

With establishment of individual Central Banks for the three East African countries, Kenya began printing and minting its own currency under the mandate given to the Central Bank of Kenya in the Central Bank of Kenya Act cap 491.

Legal notice

Bank notes for the Central Bank of Kenya, although not yet issued, were legalised under Legal Notice number 252 of 1966 dated July 1, 1966.

First coins in the denominations of Sh5, Sh10, Sh20, Sh50 and Sh100, all bearing the portrait of the first President of Kenya, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, were issued in April 1967.

These notes were the first using the double title of Banki Kuu ya Kenya and Central Bank of Kenya.

On April 10, 1967 new Kenya shilling coins were issued in the denominations of five cents, 10 cents, 25 cents, 50 cents and one shilling.

The coins were minted by the Royal Mint of UK and made from cupro-nickel and featured the Kenyan coat of arms, a theme that has remained a dominant feature to the present series of coins.