This archive report was first published on 3 October 2019.
On October 3, 2019, Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor Patrick Njoroge revealed that Sh7.3 billion worth of older Sh1,000 notes were not returned to the banking system ahead of the Tuesday deadline.
This amount, equivalent to 3.5 percent of the older notes in circulation before the withdrawal notice, has raised concerns about illicit financial flows.
According to CBK data, 83 percent of the Sh217 billion in circulation as of May 31 were Sh1,000 notes.
While describing the share of returned older notes as a success, Dr. Njoroge said, "The anti-money laundering measures we put in place were a success."
He also stated, "Whoever is holding this (unreturned money) is poorer. They are holding paper that they stole from somewhere. Their net wealth is diminished by the full amounts,"
Dr. Njoroge added that 3,172 accounts were flagged for suspicious transactions by banks when exchanging the Sh1,000 notes.
The returned money, which can fit into five 40-feet containers, will be shredded and turned into briquettes.
As of September 30, about 149.6 million pieces of the new generation Sh1,000 notes had been released into the banking system to replace the older notes.
