Gov’t to Burn All Sh1,000 Notes After October 1st

The government is set to burn all the old-generation Sh1,000 notes after October 1st, the date when they will cease to be legal tenders in the country.

In June, Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) asked Kenyans to exchange all the old Sh1,000 banknotes in their position with new currency notes before October 1st, 2019.

“All the older Ksh.1000 series shall be withdrawn. All persons have until October 1, 2019, to exchange these notes, after which the older ones will cease to be legal tender,” CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge said.

Once the deadline for use of old Sh1,000 notes expires, CBK will shred and burn the notes to ashes in Nairobi’s Kariobangi North area, according to The Star.

All the notes collected in various banks countrywide will be ferried to CBK headquarters where they will be verified and stored in a deoxygenated room under the strict supervision of trustees and senior police officers attached to the bank, The Star reported.

The notes will then be shredded and packed into sacks before being transported to Kariobangi North for burning in a date to be decided by CBK officials.

“It is a rigorous process which leaves no room for someone to think of keeping some in his or her packets. Just like any other monies that are received at CBK, they are all under tight security,” a staff told The Star.

CBK communications officer Wallace Kantai said it is the mandate of the banks’ regulator to control the money supply and confirmed that old notes are shredded.

“The notes would be shredded just like old notes that are destroyed and replaced with new ones,” Kantai mentioned.

The exchange of old Sh1,000 notes with new ones is currently ongoing in all banks across the country.