This archive report was first published on 27 September 2019.
On September 27, 2019, the High Court of Kenya delivered a ruling that new bank notes featuring a statue of President Jomo Kenyatta are legal and do not violate the Constitution. The court also declined to extend the expiry date of old Sh1,000 notes.
Two cases challenging the release of new bank notes into circulation were filed before the High Court on June 4. Activist Okiya Omtatah and East Africa Legislative Assembly Member of Parliament Simon Mbugua argued that the image of a statue of President Jomo Kenyatta is in violation of the Constitution and should be removed from the new denominations.
According to the petitioners, although Kenyatta's portrait is captured as a part of Kenyatta International Conference Center (KICC), it is a representation of the former President's image, whose inclusion is illegal. The court, however, disagreed with the petitioners, ruling that the image is not a portrait but a statue.
On August 8, Omtatah also sued Attorney General Kihara Kariuki for publishing new laws to regulate circulation of the new currencies. Omtatah argued that the AG sneaked in the new law after realising that the Central Bank of Kenya illegally introduced the new generation currencies, and when the court was at an advanced stage of determining legality of the new currencies.
