In a strong wave of political activism and economic imbalance, there have been numerous attempts by individuals to put writings on various monetary notes and other currencies. Various social media posts have indicated marks and writings imparted on money to state their political ambitions and aspirations.
Bank of Uganda has come out to warn the public against this act and has advised the pubic not to accept any bank notes with marks and writings other than the official ones, as these have less value.
This is the statement from Bank of Uganda:
Bank of Uganda (BoU) is by law the only authority that can issue currency in Uganda and that includes the power to determine the features that can appear on any currency note or coin.
The Bank has noted with concern the several social media postings circulating images of Uganda’s currency notes with hand written political campaign messages. This is to advise members of the public that stamping, writing, and /or markings on currency notes interferes with the security features that are useful in establishing the authenticity of the genuine currency notes. Stamping, writing/or marking on bank notes or coins also amounts to defacing which exposes the holder of such a note or coin to the risk of loss of its value.
The public is, therefore, strongly warned against the use of currency notes for any other purpose other than for making or receiving payments and the public is also advised to accept only those notes that bear features as designed by Bank of Uganda.
Individuals involved in the defacing, and/or those accepting defaced notes risk losing the value of their Banknotes.
Bank of Uganda assures the general public that it is committed to the preservation of the integrity and value of the currency of the Republic of Uganda.
