This archive report was first published on 24 September 2019.
Published on September 24, 2019, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has underlined the high usage of cash in Narok County as an ongoing concern ahead of the October 1 demonetization deadline.
CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge noted that the reported heavy use of cash in the purchase of wheat, which coincides with the produce's harvest season, is a subject of ongoing investigation by the regulators.
According to Dr. Njoroge, the high incident of cash used in the county may be a pointer of the potential for illicit cover-ups, but the Maasai community, who are the majority inhabitants in the county, are known for their preference for holding on to value in real cash for their day-to-day transactions.
Despite the bias towards real cash by the expansive Narok community, the CBK does not foresee the cash dominance to be an ongoing concern in the run-up to Monday's deadline on demonetization in the frontier county.
CBK has backed its public sensitization program carried out across the last three months to prompt the transition into the new currency notes.
CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge has since toured the county to double-down on the demonetization message with the view of mobilizing the Maa community to take part in the handover of the old series Ksh.1000 notes.
Dr. Njoroge told Narok residents in a tour of the county earlier this month, 'At the end of September kutakuwa noma (it will be tough)'. He also disclosed that the regulator has had to iron out similar concerns in the frontier counties of Garissa and Mandera where traders have a similar high affinity for physical notes.
The CBK Governor maintains that Monday's deadline remains cast in stone and will not be extended.
'It is important for all concerned to do all they can to ensure the old notes get to us by the close of business on Monday. Every individual can directly convert their notes via banks. Let's not stand idle lamenting about the problem,' he added.
