•Two weeks ago, the Central Bank of Kenya said there are enough new generation notes in circulation, urging Kenyans to take advantage of the deadline to replace old notes.
•About 100 million pieces of the old Sh1,000 note had been returned to the CBK by end of August ahead of September 30 deadline.
Safaricom shops will stop taking the old currency notes from next week Thursday, four days before the September 30 deadline set by the Central Bank of Kenya.
"Safaricom will not take old notes after September 26, to allow us bank in time," the company said in a communication to its regional outlets on Saturday.
After September 30, all older generation notes will be worthless.
Two weeks ago, the Central Bank of Kenya said there are enough new generation notes in circulation, urging Kenyans to take advantage of the deadline to replace old notes.
About 100 million pieces of the old Sh1,000 note had been returned to the CBK by end of August ahead of September 30 deadline.
This translates to about 50 per cent of old Sh1,000 in circulation.
CBK governor Patrick Njoroge had asked Kenyans to remind their mothers and grandmothers on the old notes deadline.
“Our mothers and grandmothers are epic savers. They may have some money around their homes,” he via Twitter.
“Please check on them and remind them of the deadline of September 30 for exchanging the older Sh 1000 notes.”
According to insiders, the old Sh1,000 banknotes being withdrawn will be shredded and burned into ashes in Nairobi’s Kariobangi area.
Once the old notes that are received at the CBK branches, they will be transported in trucks to the headquarters where they are received, verified and stored in a deoxygenated room under the strict supervision of trustees and senior police officers attached to the bank.
The top officials will then set a date within a week when the collected notes will be cut into finer shreds and packed in sacks before being transported to Kariobangi North, near the market, where they will be burnt in the open under the watch of armed police officers.