British security printing firm De La Rue International won a Ksh11.1 billion three-year contract to design and manufacture Kenyas new generation currency.

De La Rue disclosed that it plans to deliver the first batch of the banknotes, which will not have the image of an individual in 2019.

New Look

The decision allowed the CBK and the security printer to proceed with production of the new currency notes as required under the 2010 Constitution.

Meanwhile, activist Okiya Omtatah filed a notice to fight the Court of Appeal’s finding at the Supreme Court, arguing that the procurement process favoured De La Rue and the firm's bid did not meet the requirements of the law.

If admitted at the Supreme Court, Omtata’s appeal could further delay the printing of the new generation currency whose procurement started in 2014.

Judge George Odunga had ordered the CBK to re-evaluate the tender on the grounds that the 15 per cent preferential treatment was conferred contrary to procurement law since the firm is not a Kenyan owned entity, prompting De La Rue and the CBK to file an appeal.

However, Court of Appeal judges, Justices Erastus Githinji, Asike Makhandia and Ole Kantai further faulted the High Court judge for relying his decision on expunged documents that he had earlier found to have been procured unprocedurally.

Preferential Margin

Court of Appeal noted that De La Rue applied for preferential margin on the basis that it was the only candidate with locally registered and established affiliates, De La Rue Currency & Security Print Ltd.

De La Rue has operated in Kenya for more than 25 years and stated that it was investing more in its factory in Ruaraka, Nairobi as part of a long-term plan to become a regional and Pan-African security printer.

The latest deal with the CBK will enable the government to comply with the Constitution, which says that “notes and coins issued by the Central Bank of Kenya may bear images  that depict or symbolise an aspect of Kenya but shall not bear the portrait of an individual.”