This archive report was first published on 30 September 2019.
As the deadline for the phase-out of Kenya's Sh1,000 notes approaches, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and commercial banks in the country are shutting down branches to facilitate the process.
The CBK announced the demonetisation of the old notes on June 1, and the deadline for their phase-out is Monday. The old notes will cease to be legal tender, and those who do not convert them will lose their value.
CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge stated that once the bank's computers are switched off at the close of business on Monday, all unconverted bank notes will become worthless pieces of paper.
Many banks close by 4pm, which means that this will be the actual deadline and not midnight Monday.
The CBK will destroy all the old notes collected as the final stage in the four-month demonetisation process that officially ends Monday.
Analysts say the success of the process will be measured after the country gets the real picture of the total money in circulation, even as it becomes clear that it will be impossible to collect all the Ksh217 billion ($2.17 million) that the exercise was targeting.
Despite the massive awareness campaigns, Kenyans have been in no hurry to return the money, and most companies and retailers have not been accepting the old notes towards the end of the grace period.
On Monday, those who do not want to lose their money will have to walk into a bank or a CBK outlet to convert or risk losing it.
Mr Tony Watima, an economist, says that there is not much evidence of curbing black money through demonetisation, even if circulation of money is stopped as it has been done in Libya, Zimbabwe and India.
"This is because not all corruption income is necessarily cash income. In fact, majority of ill-gotten cash never remains idle, they are always locked in physical assets such as real estate, or high-value purchases, personal foreign travel and investment in unaccounted businesses," Mr Watima said.
