Appeals Court Paves Way for Printing of Kenya's New-Look Currency

The existing Kenyan currency will soon be a thing of the past after a ruling by the Appeals Court cleared the way for the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to print new-look notes.

The second highest court in the country declared as lawful the tendering process that saw British security printing company De La Rue win the Sh10 billion-a-year tender to print Kenya's new currency.

The ruling by a three-judge bench comprising of Justices Erastus Githinji, Asike Makhandia and Ole Kantai overturned a judgement by High Court’s Justice George Odunga that declared as unprocedural the contract awarded to De La Rue.

The three judges said CBK did not violate the law in awarding the multi-billion shilling tender to the British company.

Judge Odunga made the verdict after activist Okiya Omtatah filed a petition seeking to have the tender quashed arguing that De La Rue should not have been given a 15 percent preferential treatment.

The Court of Appeal agreed with CBK’s application of local preference. De La Rue directly employs 300 people in Kenya, with an extended workforce of about 3000, and, contributes Sh1.25bn to the local economy every year.

The 2010 Constitution states that the new currency should not bear the image of persons like it's the case of current notes that bear the portrait of Kenya's first President.