A series of stunning images alleged to be Kenya’s new currency is all the fuss among internet users.
The excitement over the new notes comes months after Central Bank governor Patrick Njoroge committed to setting the ball rolling on the design and production of the new currency.
According to the 2010 constitution, our currency should have images that depict certain aspects of Kenya, and not faces of individuals. However, CBK has failed to implement this requirement since the promulgation of the constitution in 2010.
Plans are, however, at an advanced stage and Kenyans are expected to start using the new currency by June this year.
“Our expectations according to timelines are to issue the currency in the second quarter of 2018,” Dr Njoroge said at a press briefing in November last year.
As anticipation continues to build among Kenyans, a creative Art Director going by the pseudonym Dicky Jr. has developed a design concept for the “Modern Shilling.’
In a post shared on Behance, an online platform for artistic expression, Dicky Jr writes: “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.”
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“Anyway.. that got me thinking: how would a modern Kenyan Shilling actually look? And perhaps more fundamentally, what do Kenyans consider ‘Kenyan’? ”
Most importantly, Dicky Jr issued a disclaimer noting that his design is not legal tender and has not been sanctioned by CBK.
Despite the disclaimer, internet users have been circulating the images claiming that they are the proposed design for the upcoming currency.
The claims have caught the attention of CBK Head of Communications, Wallace Kantai, who took to Twitter to set things straight.
He tweeted: “Before yet another person WhatsApps/ e-mails me those images going around, please read the disclaimer of the person who actually designed them.”
Before yet another person WhatsApps/ e-mails me those images going around, please read the disclaimer of the person who actually designed them. pic.twitter.com/JQvnuCiq81
— Wallace Kantai (@wgkantai) January 3, 2018
Check out the stunning design concept by Dicky Jr below.
And finally, the security watermark
