Taxi driver in trouble after being found with fake new banknotes
A taxi driver was almost arrested in Moyale on Tuesday after he was found in possession of fake banknote of the new Kenyan banknotes.
Boniface Kamau had gone to deposit the money in an M-Pesa shop when he was told the banknotes were fake.
According to Kamau, he received Sh 3,000 from clients he had taken to Ethiopia. Unknown to him, part of the money was counterfeit.
NEW BANKNOTES
“They (passengers) alighted from a Nairobi bus and said they wanted to cross over to Ethiopia. I took them, waited for them as they shopped and dropped them back at a Mandera-bound bus after which they handed me Sh3,000 as we had agreed,” Kamau narrated.
The taxi driver, who said it was the first time he was coming in contact with the new banknotes, only discovered that he had been duped after he went to deposit the cash at an M-Pesa agent.
“When the M-Pesa agent told me the notes are fake, I went to a bank and it’s then that I was told only Sh1,000 was genuine. They wanted to arrest me but I was lucky because I knew the police officers at the bank. I just explained to them and they understood me,” he said.
PUBLIC AWARENESS
Most businesses in the town at the border of Kenya and Ethiopia have refused to accept the new banknotes.
“People here are not aware of the new banknotes. They don’t even know how it looks like. It’s becoming hard to buy anything here. Awareness campaign is needed, otherwise these people will be conned,” said Fatum Issa a resident of Moyale.
“Today’s incident with the taxi driver and the fake money will make people here avoid the new money,” she added.