CBK boss defends ‘Banki’ on new notes

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has defended the Swahili translation of the word “bank” on the new banknotes after a backlash from netizens.

Kenyans online have been drawing similarities between the new currency and that of Tanzania except for the glaring difference in how the two countries refer to the “Central Bank”.

While Tanzania refers to its regulator as “Benki Kuu”, Kenya has opted for “Banki Kuu” on the new currency, which also features on the old currency.

Some have pointed out that Kenya’s translation is wrong and accused the regulator of embarrassing the country.

But Dr Njoroge yesterday explained that legally, the Act that created the apex bank says it is “Banki” and not “Benki”.

He said the Swahili variant of the word was chosen by the pioneering minister of economic planning and development Tom Mboya. “Somebody suggested the Swahili translation was Banki ya Katikati, Mr Michuki (late Treasury Permanent Secretary and Security Minister) being the diplomat he was, did not want to dismiss this and said why don’t you talk to Tom Mboya about it, and when he was told he smiled and said this was a literal translation,” said Dr Njoroge at a press briefing in Nairobi.

“They could have named this bank anything like Reserve Bank of Kenya, but they named it Central Bank of Kenya from the beginning.”