2000+ Pastoralists Missed out on New Currency Swap as they Grazed in Witu and Boni Forests

Over 2000 pastoralists did not exchange their Sh 1,000 notes as they had traveled to remote areas in search for pasture for their animals.

Some herders who just returned home last weekend are trying to seek help from the Central Bank by appealing for a short window for them to swap the old notes for the new currency. The pastoralist claims that they were unable to beat the 30th September deadline as they were grazing in the highly remote areas of Witu and Boni in Lamu.

After returning home last weekend, the herdsmen claim they found the sh1000 notes in their possession were almost useless when they reached trading centers over the weekend to make purchases. According to them, retailers took extreme advantage of them trying to unfairly trade the cows with less money so that the herdsmen could acquire possession of the new currency. To add on this, the herders claimed that the same unfair traders were going into the wilderness to trade for the cows with other herdsmen still in the dark with whatever is going on.

The herders claim that about 2000 pastoralists are still in the wilderness grazing their livestock and in darkness of the changes which had been going on in the urban areas. The herdsmen explained that they had left home earlier in February and had absolutely no way of communicating with other people to know what was on going.

The herdsmen are now appealing to the governor of the CBK Patrick Njoroge to open up a small window of opportunity for them to make a swap. The herdsmen explained that they are organized into different groups in different areas but that they have leaders who can clarify on who belongs where for transparency in the dealing to save them from the losses they are currently incurring.