Kenya: New Series of Banknotes from 2015

[Bimat]

Kenya: CBK to Roll-Out New Currency This Week

19 AUGUST 2013

Nairobi — The government is this week set to release a new set of Kenya currency notes that will be in circulation by February 2015.

Secretary to the Cabinet Francis Kimemia said the new currency will depict the Kenyan tourism, economic engagement, Wildlife, Kenya's history, traditions and cultures.

"We will be flagging out right from the denominations Sh10, 20, 50, 100 and 1000 notes which will be launched possibly this week," he said.

Kimemia said the notes will be circulated across the country to enable Kenyans go through them.

"Already the notes have been processed through the Central Bank, with input from the stakeholders and the business community," he said.

The Secretary to the Cabinet noted that this will be a major landmark for the country noting the Constitution requires the country to release the new notes by the end of 2015.

"On Thursday last week, the Cabinet approved the new set of currency that will see the country shifting from the current ones as provided for by the Constitution with effect from February 2015," he said.

Source: All Africa

[eurocoin]

Central Bank sheds light on delays over the new currency

The Central Bank of Kenya has brought to light the reason that derailed the country's new currency.

Governor Patrick Njoroge told the Senate Committee on Finance, Commerce and Economic Affairs on Thursday last week that the bank missed the planned August 2015 constitutional deadline following the cancellation of the tender on March 24.

The lucrative tender was cancelled after two bidders quoted a zero price.

The bank in consultation with the Attorney-General ruled the move illegal.

Four companies — British printer De La Rue, its competitor French firm Oberthur Fiduciaire, German banknote printer Giesecke & Devrient and American firm Crane Currency — had been prequalified from eight money printing firms.

However, both British printer De La Rue and the French firm Oberthur Fiduciaire set their bid at zero price, which did not make any economic sense in such a lucrative tender to design the new currency notes.

"The companies with zero price were willing to do it for nothing but there was no way the Central Bank would accept that. It was not a valid contract. It was laughable to say the least," Dr Njoroge told the Senate Committee.

Legislators have asked why the new look currency faced delays, citing the prospect of a constitutional crisis were this to be challenged in court.

Dr Njoroge said Central Bank cancelled the tender on March 24 2015.

The costly process of making new banknotes requires design and layout, development and integration of advanced security features.

BID BAFFLES LEADERS

Baffled members of the Senate committee asked where the catch for zero pricing set by the printing firm giants lay even as the Governor said it could only be open to speculation.

Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale asked whether the zero pricing was a nefarious design or scheme to scuttle the tendering and maintain the status quo.

Nyeri Senator Mutahi Kagwe and the chairman of the committee Billow Kerrow asked whether the two firms would have been motivated by the future hope of clinching production deals for the new banknotes, which inspired the unusual step not to charge a penny for their services.

However, Dr Njoroge, who also admitted to have been baffled, said the Central Bank was left with no option but to cancel the tender.

At the time, the office of the bank governor was vacant. Dr Njoroge took office in June last year.

The Sunday Nation was unable to reach the two printing giants to explain the motive of their zero pricing bids.

During the hearing, legislators asked whether Central Bank was in breach of the Constitution by missing the constitutionally stipulated deadline. Dr Njoroge said they had set in motion the process to develop new notes, adding that a new international tender for the design would be issued.

The Governor said Sh18 billion would be required to withdraw the currency now in circulation over a three-year period and this would require a campaign to educate Kenyans.

Dr Njoroge said the bank would like to issue the new notes in September 2017.

He said issuing them a year to the election year would create security risks.

Dr Njoroge also told the hearing that he had been flooded with "many requests for meetings" by unnamed firms ostensibly seeking to sway the decision in their favour.

He said he had interpreted the requests for meetings as "interference" and declined.

Senators Dullo Fatuma Adam, Zipporah Kittony, Ben Njoroge questioned the absence of public participation, but Dr Njoroge pointed out there was no need for obsession on timelines without a focus on quality.

The new currency is expected to have new features that would enable the visually impaired to use them. The huge concern on the new look currency is about counterfeiters, he said.

[eurocoin]

They already have the designs ready, they only still need a printer. Issuance of the new notes is now planned for September 2017.

[chrisild]

This seems to be the Nairobi version of the Berlin airport. Delayed again ...

"The new generation currency notes will be issued before the end of May 2018, the Central Bank of Kenya has said. (...) The new-look notes should also be fashioned to enable the visually-impaired to use them. They are expected to be in notes of 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 shillings. (...) Last week, De La Rue moved to court, challenging CBK's move to invite tenders from foreign firms to print the new-design currency arguing the move would lead to irreversible harm to the local industry."

De La Rue has a printing facility in Ruaraka near Nairobi. An earlier article has an image of what could be the new design of the 500 KES note.

Christian

[Bimat]

De la Rue withdraws new bank notes suit

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2017 20:58

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) may forge ahead with its tendering for printing of new currency notes unhindered after De la Rue opted to withdraw its legal battle against the regulator.

While appearing before High Court judge Enock Chacha Mwita,  De la Rue said it has decided to shelve the legal battle.
Justice Mwita consequently marked the suit as withdrawn by consent of both parties.

However, the judge directed that costs of the suit to be agreed upon between the two and if an agreement is not reached they should be taxed by the deputy registrar.

The CBK only told court Thursday that De la Rue had issued them with a notice to withdraw the matter.

"We have no objection to the withdrawal," said lawyer Ochieng Oduol for the CBK.

The withdrawal comes a time when De La Rue was expected to respond to allegations of illegally acquiring tender documents for a process, which they did not participate in.

While De la Rue had sought to stop the ongoing tender whose bids were opened on November 30, Justice Mwita had declined to issue any temporary orders and asked the firm to respond to the allegations levelled against it.

"We must find out the veracity of the alleged documents, if they are valid we proceed with the case that is before us because it is a constitutional matter. If they are merited, nothing will stop the court from nullifying the whole tender," said Justice Mwita earlier.

According to the CBK, De la Rue was not pre-qualified to tender or invited to submit or participate in the disputed tender yet it had in its possession a confidential document, which cannot be disclosed unless a court order has been issued.

The CBK also claimed that there were avenues which the firm should have used to request the disputed documents, but they [management] failed to do so hence the reason as to why the documents attached as evidence were to be struck out and considered as inadmissible.

De la Rue together with EPZ ltd had sued the CBK claiming that  local companies were blantantly ignored in the tender.

"The danger of allowing this process is that we could end up with another Anglo- leasing kind of scandal,"  De la Rue had said.

Source: Business Daily Africa

[Pabitra]

New designs released

[eurocoin]

These are not the designs that will appear on the banknotes. These designs were made by Kenyan artist Dicky Hokie Jr. who made them as part of a design project, completely unrelated to the Central Bank of Kenya.

[Bimat]

No, this is actually not the design for Kenya's new banknote series

WRITTEN BY
Anne Quito

Kenyans are very, very eager to see their new money.

Following a 2010 constitutional mandate, the Central Bank of Kenya launched a global competition in 2012 for a "unique, attractive, socially acceptable, and culturally relevant" graphic redesign of the country's banknotes. The design guidelines stipulate that the new-look shillings should convey the optimism of Kenya's Vision 2030 development goals and should not have any portraits of people. (The current design features the image of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, founding president of independent Kenya and father of current president Uhuru.)

Over the holidays, Nairobi-based graphic designer Dicky Hokie, Jr. played around with a few ideas, tooling around in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. He came up with a clean design and shared it on the online portfolio site Behance. Though Hokie did make clear the work was just an idea—"Disclaimer: This in NOT legal tender and is NOT sanctioned by the CBK or the Government of Kenya," he wrote on the site—many Kenyans didn't read so closely and mistook the rendering for the new official design.

Since Dec. 28, Hokie's modern takes on Kenya's 50-, 100-, 200-, 500-, and 1,000-shilling notes have been shared widely on social media and a Kenyan treasury official who spoke to Quartz on the phone said the fake news is also sparking numerous discussion threads on WhatsApp. Of course, some loved it and some hated it—design criticism is a burgeoning internet amateur sport. Many noted Hokie's design had a lot in common with the design of the Euro banknotes.

Hokie's concept features a photo collage of traditional African motifs—zebras, lions, grazing elephants, Kenyan runners—treated with a contemporary sensibility. Departing from traditional banknote conventions, his proposal has a vibrant color palette, clean sans-serif typography and a neat grid of hairlines in lieu of the guilloche patterns found on most paper money.

Besides the disclosure, there were some obvious signs that Hokie's designs were not official or final. For one thing, they didn't show the back of the notes. Also missing were some basic elements: layers of anti-counterfeiting features (except for one simplistic watermark) and a second signature for a member of the board of treasury. "It was completely trial-and-error. I had never done this before so it was a combination of thorough research and guesswork," he explained to the Star, Kenya.

He tells Quartz that he hadn't put much thought into the back yet but might do a mock-up at a later time.

Hokie's experimentation was covered widely in the local press, with Nairobi News insinuating that the publicizing of the design was a ploy to get the Central Bank of Kenya's attention. The new shilling design was originally scheduled to be unveiled on Sept. 2015 but has been delayed several times. The latest delay involves a highly publicized lawsuit filed by activist Okiya Omtatah challenging the Central Bank's contract with British banknote-manufacturer De La Rue to design and print the Kenyan notes. Omtatah says the bank unlawfully skewed the design contest in favor of De La Rue, which has been printing Kenya's banknotes for 25 years, by giving them "a preferential margin of 15% to undercut the competition." As of Dec. 13, Kenya's High Court has temporarily suspended the contract as it sorts out the matter.

De La Rue is the world's largest commercial banknote manufacturer. They produce and design currency for over 140 countries, including the money of world's newest nation South Sudan. De La Rue also designed UK's new Jane Austen £10 banknote.

Hokie, a creative manager at Radio Africa's BamBA TV and co-founder of African Stock Photo, says he was surprised by the reaction over "The Modern Shilling." He intended the creative exercise as a meditation about Kenyan national identity, and not an actual pitch to design the new banknotes. "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," Hokie writes on Behance.

"I trust that there are ideas out there for images that better represent modern Kenya but I think the country's natural treasures are likely to be the least contentious," Hokie explains in an email to Quartz. "Animals have geographic locations but no tribe, socioeconomic status or political links."

Central Bank governor Patrick Ngugi Njoroge promised that the official design for the new shillings will be unveiled this June.

This post has been updated with comments from the designer.

Source: Quartz Africa

[Pabitra]

Kenya bank note awarded tender still in doubt

See

https://www.ft.com/content/360e5197-4530-368f-9540-2ea46aec6d4b

[Bimat]

De La Rue's contract to print Kenya's banknotes cancelled

John Aglionby
YESTERDAY

De La Rue, the UK paper goods maker, has had its contract to print Kenya's new bank notes cancelled after the country's procurement watchdog ruled that the central bank had awarded it unlawfully.

The Public Procurement Administrative Review Board said De La Rue, listed on the FTSE 250 in London, should not have received a 15 per cent preference margin on tender, which is given to bidders of services when goods are manufactured domestically. Without the preference margin, De La Rue's contract would be more expensive to the taxpayer.

De La Rue has a banknote and security printing facility in Kenya, its only one in Africa. Lawyers for the central bank argued that De La Rue's bid qualified for the preference margin because the majority of the notes would be printed at the facility.

However, the board ruled that because the contract was awarded to De La Rue International, the preference margin should not have been applied.

It ordered that all four tenders should be re-evaluated within 14 days. The three other bidders were Giesecke & Devrient of Germany, Sweden's Crane Currency and Oberthur Fiduciaire of France.

The Central Bank of Kenya said it would appeal against the decision to the high court, arguing that in the circumstances the ownership of the winning bid was irrelevant.

De La Rue also said it would appeal against the procurement board's decision.

Details of the contract have not been released but Patrick Njoroge, the central bank governor, has said that the new banknotes will cost Ks18bn ($174m).

Kenya has had to reprint its banknotes because the existing stock violates the 2010 constitution that outlaws the use of images of individuals. Kenya's banknotes currently feature images of Jomo Kenyatta, the country's first president.

De La Rue's adjusted profit before tax last year was flat at £58.7m. But revenue at its currency business, which provides about three-quarters of its total, fell 1 per cent as a high-value contract came to an end.

Source: Financial Times

[Bimat]

Kenya bank note awarded tender still in doubt

See

https://www.ft.com/content/360e5197-4530-368f-9540-2ea46aec6d4b

The link you have quoted is almost same as mine, not sure how I was able to read it (and post it here) before it went 'invisible' as it's available only to subscribers.

Aditya

[Bimat]

Court of Appeal Gives Go Ahead To Printing of New Generational Notes

By Soko Directory Team / October 13, 2018

The printing of the new generational banknotes is set to resume following a go-ahead from the Court of Appeal on Friday.

The process of the printing of the new notes had been stopped after a case was presented before the High Court to challenge the process used to award the tender for the printing.

"The Court of Appeal decision, taken together with the previous High Court decision, confirms that there was no proof of collusion (or any sweetheart deals) between the CBK and the successful bidder, De La Rue International Limited," said the Central Bank of Kenya in a statement to newsrooms.

Court of Appeal ruling now clears the way for the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to proceed with the processes it had put in place for printing and supply of new generation bank notes.

This legal challenge, according to a statement from CBK, was the final hurdle that was stopping it from issuing the new generation bank notes. CBK will now reassess the timeline for the issuance of these bank notes and will proceed with all due haste.

The Court of Appeal upheld all the grounds of CBK's appeal and stated that the entire procurement process (pre-qualification, design, printing, and supply of the new currency) by CBK was conducted in accordance with the Constitution and the applicable laws.

According to the court, the preference margin of 15 percent was properly applied by CBK in the evaluation of the bid that was placed by De La Rue International Limited. In addition, the application for preferential treatment and subcontracting was properly made by the successful bidder and there was no bar to sub-contracting.

According to the court, the Law applicable to this procurement of currency is the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act of 2015 and that the CBK acted within the law in awarding the tender to De La Rue International Limited on 30th November 2017.

Source: Soko Directory

[Bimat]

Sh10bn a year currency print tender goes to Supreme Court

SUNDAY OCTOBER 21 2018

By SAM KIPLAGAT

The Sh10 billion-a-year tender for printing new look currency is now headed to the Supreme Court after activist Okiya Omtatah challenged the Court of Appeal decision that handed the contract to British firm De La Rue International.

The appellate court overturned a decision nullifying the bid and ruled that there was no collusion between De La Rue and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).

But Mr Omtatah has faulted the three judges' decision, arguing that they failed to appreciate the fact that the new design banknotes were being procured through a three-tier tender process, where the actual makers were supposed to be disclosed in both the pre-qualification and the restricted tendering stage.

He said the Court of Appeal also misdirected itself by assuming and holding that the procuring entity (CBK) had the power to waive the requirement in law for prequalification and allow the De La Rue to subcontract the De La Rue Currency & Security print Ltd and De La Rue EPZ Ltd.

According to the activist, the two firms were not themselves prequalified to produce the specialised and complex goods for which the law required in the process.

The process for the procurement of new design currency banknotes started in 2014 but has been dogged by controversy since then.

Mr Omtatah challenged the award last December arguing that the CBK in awarding the tender not only failed to strictly comply with the law but also rigged it in favour of De La Rue.

He said the procurement process failed to comply with the law and that De La Rue was not qualified as a preferred supplier, or the lowest bidder.

Source: The Nation

[Figleaf]

Kudos to Mr. Omtatah for endangering his personal security. I believe the journalist has omitted the word "not" in the third para, as it seems nonsensical as it stands now. With "not" inserted, it is an accusation of corruption. It would be like a "blind" tasting of wines, where the jury members are shown the labels on the bottle.

I am not sure about his other argument, that the (apparently wholly owned) subcontractors were not pre-qualified. A pre-qualification concerns the bid, not the company. If De La Rue disclosed the role of the sub-contractors in its bid, they are pre-qualified if the bid is qualified. However, I don't know if De La Rue mentioned them in their bid.

Will justice prevail? Kenya is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. It is on a shared 143rd place in a list of 180 countries kept by transparency international.

Peter

[Bimat]

Apparently, the new banknotes were (finally!) introduced on May 31.

Aditya