This archive report was first published on 2 October 2019.
On 2 October, Central Bank of Kenya Governor Patrick Njoroge revealed that Kenyans did not manage to return old 1,000 notes worth Ksh7.38 billion by 30 September.
According to Njoroge, out of 217 million old 1,000 notes, Kenyans managed to return 209.6 million notes by the end of the demonetization period.
While 209,661,000 pieces of old notes had been exchanged by 30 September, 7,386,000 pieces are still held by individuals as worthless cash.
Njoroge condemned the Kenyan habit of procrastination, saying that people waited until the last minute to have the deadline pushed forward.
He acknowledged that the demonetization process was successful, with the help of the CBK and the Anti-Money Laundering Agency.
Njoroge stated that the owners of the unreturned old 1,000 notes did not want to be subjected to the relevant checks in the anti-money laundering system before returning the cash, implying that they acquired the cash illegally.
