A 60-year-old man from Sirondha village in Siaya County is distressed after realising that he cannot invest or spend Sh500,000 which are in denominations of old Sh1000.
Until the deadline for the exchange of the old notes, Julius Odinga Mboga was not aware of what awaited him.
Daily Nation reports that the man had hidden the money under the mattress and remained in the dark of the changes introduced by the Central Bank of Kenya.
He is now in a dilemma after noticing that he has worthless pieces of paper under the mattress.
The retired mechanic at Brook Bond Kenya Limited in Limuru was not able to beat the deadline of the CBK.
The younger brother, Mr Joseph Ouko, and his mother Jennifer Aoko confirmed that the man doesn’t even own a phone, which made it hard for him to be traced.
Mboga reportedly withdrew the funds from his account in Equity Bank in Siaya on June 14 this year. He then returned on July 16 and collected Sh300,000 from the same point.
He stayed with the money and went to a hotel only for the attendants to turn him away when he wanted to use the same.
“I went to a hotel and when I tried paying for the meal with a thousand shillings note, they refused and told me the currency is no longer being used,” said Mr Mboga.
The man also alleged that he was misled by a reminder from the CBK on the deadline.
The family blames friends and neighbours for not informing him that the deadline was approaching so that he could exchange the same.