Nairobi Kenya — The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor Kamau Thugge has said that the new banknotes to be replaced will be printed by a German firm after De La Rue exited the country last year.

Thugge clarified that the objective of the replacement is to replace old denominations with new ones.

"The printing is being done by a German firm and I think is one of the best firms," Thugge said.

He went on to say that the Sh1,000 notes will be phased out first because of anticipated stock out between July and August, necessitating the urgent need for replacement.

"This is just the normal process of the Central bank and the notes we have are getting old and we need to get a new note. The Sh1,000 is that we are projecting there will be a stock out of the notes, and we needed new Sh1,000 notes," he said.

The new notes bear the signatures of CBK Governor Kamau Thugge and National Treasury PS Chris Kiptoo.

Additionally, they will be printed with a 2024 symbol as well as the latest security threads, specific to each denomination.

Sh500, Sh200, Sh100, and Sh50 are other units that will be embedded with the new features.

The updated security thread on the note will appear as a continuous line and will change color when titled.

When placed under ultra-violet light, the golden band will show the value of the banknote.

"The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) is mandated to issue currency as conferred by Article 231 (2) of the Constitution of Kenya and Section 22 (2) of the Central Bank of Kenya Act. In fulfilment of this mandate, the Bank has made some changes to the denominations of the Kenyan currency banknotes," the CBK announced in a statement.

However, the apex bank noted that other features will remain as they were issued in 2019.

"All banknotes currently in circulation remain legal tender and will circulate alongside the released banknotes," it added.

"Release of the banknotes will commence with KES 1,000, while other denominations will progressively follow in the coming months."