This archive report was first published on 7 October 2019.
On October 7, 2019, a spot check by Business Daily revealed that majority of shoppers had stopped using Sh1 coins.
The preference for higher-value coins and crisp notes is fuelling a new wave of inflation as retailers prefer to increase prices in multiples of fives and tens to avoid the low-value currency.
According to a shopkeeper, buyers stopped accepting the Sh1 coins as change last year, leading to the practice of giving sweets, chewing gum, or matchboxes as change.
As a result, the economy finds itself in a vicious cycle where the buyer is afraid the cashier would reject coins while the latter are afraid customers would not accept them in change.
Some shops in Mombasa have increased prices of goods, with an egg now retailing at Sh15, salt at Sh20, and a matchbox at Sh5.
Mr Kelvin Nyawa, a resident of Mombasa, tried to top up the Sh40 he had paid in two Sh20 coins using 10 pieces of Sh1 coin, but the driver asked him to pay via M-Pesa.
Paul Gitonga, a taxi driver, said he empties every Sh1 coin that comes his way into an old container, as nobody takes them these days.
