Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Head of Communications, Wallace Kantai, has broken his silence on images of alleged new Kenyan currency that have been widely circulated on social media.
Mr Kantai has distanced the Central Bank from the images emphasising that neither the government nor the CBK has commissioned the project.
The Head of Communications has as well warned those circulating the media against misquoting his office as having sanctioned or condemned the proposed notes.
Kenyans.co.ke has since established that the images are creative illustrations developed by a Kenyan Art Director going by the pseudonym Dicky Jr.
[caption caption="Graphic design of a note developed by Dicky Jr"]
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In a post shared on an online platform for artistic expression, Dicky Jr conveyed that he had created the notes following the push and pull witnessed over the implementation of the Central Bank of Kenya Act of 2010.
"According to Kenya's 2010 constitution, legal currency can no longer bear portraits and images of individuals.
"The current notes in circulation still bear the portraits of former Presidents and in fact, I recently read an article about the Central Bank Governor again postponing the release date for the new generation notes," the post read in part.
The designer went on to put a disclaimer to his creations stating that they had no particular endorsement from the government and the CBK.
"How would a modern Kenyan Shilling actually look? And perhaps more fundamentally, what do Kenyans consider 'Kenyan'? Here are designs that I think answer both.
"Disclaimer: This is NOT legal tender and is NOT sanctioned by the CBK or the Government of Kenya," the designer stated.
[caption caption="Graphic design of a note developed by Dicky Jr"]
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Following a case filed by activist Okiyah Omtatah, the CBK was allowed to open tender bids for the printing of the new currency notes in November 2017.
Later, alleged images of the proposed legal tender were leaked and caused a stir on social media.
