The High Court has dismissed activist Okiya Omtatah and East Africa Legislative Assembly Member of Parliament Simon Mbugua's petitions challenging the legality of the new banknotes.
In their ruling, High Court Judges Kanyi Kimondo and Asenath Ongeri stated that the new notes are legal. The court also noted that Mzee Jomo Kenyatta's statue on the notes is not a portrait.
The two (Omtatah and Mbugua) had said the inclusion of Kenyatta's image on the new notes was a violation of the Constitution.
“The petitioners posit that the new design Kenyan currency bank notes are unconstitutional and, therefore, invalid, null and void, because they violate Article 231(4) of the Constitution to the extent that they bear the portrait of the late President Jomo Kenyatta,” the petitions read as quoted by Standard.
However, the two judges disputed the petitions stating that the public participated adequately before the roll-out of the new notes.
The judges also turned down a call to extend the deadline of returning the old notes, which is September 30, 2019.
The new notes were launched to counter the counterfeit of the old currency which has greatly affected the Kenyan economy.