Kenyans in the diaspora are known for carrying some kenyan cash when leaving Kenya as reserve when they come back or because the notes were some where deep in the wallet.
“If you have the Kenyan currency and you happen to be outside the country, there is only one way to get value for it before October 1. You have to take a trip here and go through the procedures outlined in the gazette notice and subsequent releases,” said Dr Njoroge at a press briefing yesterday.
The Central Bank of Kenya has informed all foreign banks to stop recognizing the legacy currency with immediate effect.
The CBK boss said the regulator is also not providing any new generation bank notes to lenders outside the country to facilitate conversion, arguing that this would defeat the goal of combating illicit money flows that have informed the move to demonetise the old Sh,1000 currency.
“You cannot convert it to any other currency out there, since this would defeat the process of demonetisation.”
Those coming into the country to convert their notes will follow the same procedures laid out for locals.
Converting between Sh1 million and Sh5 million is happening at all commercial bank branches, where customers are expected to make declarations on the source of their cash.
Persons exchanging more than Sh5 million will need to get an endorsement from CBK, as will those exchanging more than Sh1 million but do not have bank accounts.
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