Kenya’s new currency coins promote wildlife heritage replacing first three presidents

The images of presidents (first Kenya's president Jomo Kenyatta, second president Daniel arap Moi and third president Mwai Kibaki) have been dropped from the newly minted cash coins. This is considered an effort to obstruct their glorification.

Many Kenyans believed that printing image of three presidents on the currency was an attempt by their leaders to promote themselves and personalise the state, BBC noted.

The newly minted cash coins now have the image of Kenya's famous wildlife including rhino, lion, giraffe and elephant.

Intense public pressure led to a new constitution, adopted in 2010, to entrench democracy and human rights. It states that the currency "shall not bear the portrait of any individual".

The central bank has fulfilled the requirement in the case of coins, and is likely to do the same when it prints new notes.