When the CBK announced that it would undertake a campaign to encourage Kenyans to release into circulation the coins they are hoarding, it was unmistakably clear that it was beginning to realize that the shilling was getting a battering in the foreign exchange market.

I believe the Coin Week is a stark reminder that we need to think of our economy not only in terms of enormous figures in trillions and billions of shillings but also in cents, tens and hundreds; that we should look at it as the exchange between sellers and buyer across the counters just as much as we do look at it in terms of regional and international exchange as imports and exports.

Its also a reminder that we should never lay emphasis on the macro-economics at the expense of micro economics. The following illustrates my point.

Recently after making payment for my purchases at a supermarket, the balance due was Sh453. The cashier handed me two Sh200 notes, a Sh50 note and...a matchbox in lieu of the Sh3 coins which she did not have. A week earlier, another cashier had handed me two sweets instead of the Sh2 l was expecting as my change.This is bobnomics- the phenomenon that Kenyan consumers are experiencing due the scarcity of the bob, as we refer to the Sh1 coin.

Very few of us ponder over the implications of bobnomics beyond the fact that it is grossly unfair and wrong for a matchbox and Sh3 to be issued interchangeably is grossly wrong. We understand that the supermarkets cannot accept ten matchboxes from a consumer in exchange for one packet of milk selling for Sh30 and neither will they accept 40 sweets each selling at Sh1 in exchange for a loaf of bread retailing at Sh40.

Assuming in a year a customer shopped at a supermarket weekly and pocketed a balance of Sh3 at every instance which they saved at home. By year end, they will be having about Sh156 which could be used in a number of avenues including the popular merry-go-rounds (chamaz) if, the monthly contribution was pegged at Sh150 per member.Hypothetically, if this particular chama has twenty members who share the same experience, by year end they will have accrued Sh3,120 which will be enough to buy a new set of crockery or cutlery for one or two of their members; or enough money to buy 26 two-kg packets of maize flour at the inflated price of Sh120 each; or be invested in the stock market for a reasonable purchase of shares.

The whole practise of issuing a commodity instead of cash balance is a form of fraud that sees the consumers short-changed. Here is why. When a supermarket issues a customer with Sh3 balance, it deducts the amount from its float of cash as it does when it issues a Sh1,000 balance.

So what happens when it issues a customer with a matchbox instead of Sh3? I believe that they deduct the wholesale price at which they purchased that matchbox from their cash float. If at Sh3 for the matchbox the supermarket is making a profit, it follows that the wholesale price was lower than Sh3 per matchbox. Essentially the customer walks out, not with an equivalent of Sh3 but something less- maybe Sh2.25- if the retailer makes only a modest 25% profit on each matchbox sold.

As the CBK throws the spanner to works with The Coin Week, a number of issues ought to be uppermost in our minds - have we as consumers been inquisitive enough about such transactions that shape our daily lives? Have we as retailers been acting in a sincere and fair manner with our customers. Have both the consumers and retailers been demanding and providing service to the highest ethical standards?

What will happen if we release the coins which is still legal tender when the reality on the ground is that the coins are 'valueless' as buyers and sellers have indicated. I guess it remains to be seen.

AMBOKO JULIANS is a political science and economics student at Kenyatta University.