Following two-years of a highly secretive operation, the Bank of Uganda on Monday May 3, unveiled a new series of highly secure currency notes at a high-level event held at Sheraton hotel in Kampala.

Scheduled to go into circulation on May 17, 2010, the new series of notes comprise the usual denominations of 1,000/=,  5000/=,  10,000/=, 20,000/=, 50,000 and a new one of 2,000/=.

The central bank says the new notes have greatly enhanced designs as well as improved security features that will be extremely difficult to counterfeit.

BoU governor Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile described the launch as a historic moment in the history of Uganda’s currency.

“This is the first major currency design in over twenty years in Uganda,” Mutebile announced before he revealed that the new notes will bear a transformative new security feature called the SPARK.

Mutebile said: “The change was necessitated by the need to comply with international best practices and taking advantage of innovations in the banknote industry since the introduction of the 1987 series.

“The move will support the integrity of our banknotes by helping to fight against counterfeiting whilst keeping the notes user-friendly”

Besides a core team from the central bank, other Ugandans especially from the field of art such as Gen. Elly Tumwine were co-opted in development of the new designs of the currency notes. All the notes carry features showing Uganda’s rich cultural and natural heritage including gorillas (as indicated in the Ushs 50,000 note above), statues and agricultural commodities.

Finance Minister Syda Bbumba hailed the central bank for spearheading the new changes without government’s instigation. Mutebile alluded to the secret nature of the operation saying that the government only knew of the exercise in the last months before the changes were to be made public. The minister indicated that the process through which the central bank executed the plan went to illustrate the independence of the institution.

The new currency notes are expected to circulate alongside the old ones for a period of between one to two years, according to Mutebile.

As the central bank embarks on an aggressive sensitization exercise to raise awareness among the population, the governor stressed that the new changes will not affect prices since because the reforms only affected the design and not the value.

“I would like to make it clear that the introduction of a new family bank notes should have no effect whatsoever on the prices of goods and services in Uganda,” He added
“The amount of money in circulation will not be changed y the introduction of new bank notes and therefore no inflation should arise from these changes.”

The central bank has not made any changes to the coins.

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