Mudavadi warns against extension of deadline to scrap Sh1000 note

Amani Kenya Party leader Musalia Mudavadi addressing press on 28th May 2019 at his private office along Riverside-Drive in Nairobi, ahead of the 56th Madaraka Day anniversary on Saturday. [Edward Kiplimo,Standard]

The deadline set to scrap the old Sh1000 bank note as legal tender for the new one should not be extended, Amani National Congress party Musalia Mudavadi has said.

Mudavadi at the same time warned that a rush of huge cash transactions was imminent and asked Kenyans to be careful of people seeking to purchase their properties such as land with cash.

“If they extend it then they are giving room to the fellows who have illicit cash in their go downs, mattresses more time to bring it out,” he said.

Mudavadi described the October 1 deadline as the “guillotine” date and urged authorities and financial managers to be vigilant as huge cash transactions could now be the norm.

“People are going to try and rush and engage in cash transactions,” he said.

“Kenyans should be very careful people might come buy your land or car in cash yet they are transferring their problems to you because as they don’t want to account to the banks and authorities. Worse the money might be counterfeit,” warned Mudavadi.

He said that the currency was a bit late as the 2010 constitution, which states that the notes should not have portraits of individuals, had required it to be rolled out by 2015.

He also hoped that it would be hard to forge.

“The country can become better if we make sure that the currency that the governor has brought is more difficult to forge and counterfeit,” said Mudavadi.

The notice to withdraw the old Sh1,000 bank note was announced by Central Bank Governor Patrick Njoroge during the Madaraka Day celebrations last Saturday.

However, the old notes - Sh500, Sh200, Sh100 and Sh50 will continue to circulate along the new notes unveiled at the same function.

Mudavadi was speaking after a church service at Parklands Baptist Church.

Mudavadi praised some aspects of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Madaraka Day speech including the directive to settle all pending bills by both the national and county governments by end of this financial year.

He, however, lamented that his directives were being sabotaged.

“That is the problem he gives the directive and some people undermine those very directives,” he said

On the war on corruption, Mudavadi said that the president had been “a little bit shy” by saying that he put his faith in institutions created to fight the vice.

“in that area there’s still some work to be done,” he said.