Distressed Mechanic Stuck With Ksh 500K in Old Currency Cries Out

Julius Odinga Mboga is a distressed man. How he failed to beat CBK's September 30 deadline of submitting money in the old 1,000 currency is a puzzle.

Odinga, a retired mechanic from Sirodha village in Gem, Siaya County had stashed Ksh500,000 under his mattress.

Bank slips seen by The Nation revealed that Odinga withdrew Ksh200,000 from his Bank Account in Siaya on June 14.

Julius Odinga Mboga. The 69-year-old retired mechanic claimed he was misled into believing CBK had extended its deadline on exchange of the old currency.

The retired mechanic then went ahead and withdrew another Ksh300,000 on July 16. 

“I went to a hotel, but when I tried to pay for the meal with Ksh1,000 note, they told me the currency was no longer in use,” he stated.

When Odinga was visited at his house by the Nation team, the 69-year-old was on his way to the Central Bank of Kenya in Kisumu to try and exchange his old notes.

When probed on why he failed to exchange his retirement package, Odinga explained that he had been misled into believing that CBK had extended the deadline.

However, Joseph Ouko the brother to Odinga claimed neighbours and motorcycle operators misled him.

“We asked him whether he had the old Ksh1,000 notes before the CBK deadline but he refused to tell us. The people he interacts with outside the home told him that his brothers would take all his money if they knew he was keeping it,” Odinga's sister-in-law conveyed.

A helpless and distraught Odinga who had planned to venture into the transportation industry now hopes the government will show leniency and exchange the notes.

On the same boat with Odinga are pastoralists from Lamu who came back from grazing their camels and livestock only to find that the money they had was worthless.

The pastoralists cried out to CBK to review the deadline and allow them to exchange their old Ksh1,000 shilling notes.

CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge on October 3 linked the unreturned 1,000 shilling notes totaling to 7 billion to illicit cash transactions.
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