Two cases challenging the new-generation currency have been forwarded to Chief Justice David Maraga, who will form a three-judge bench to hear them.
Justice Weldon Korir certified as urgent the cases by activist Okiya Omtatah and East Africa Legislative Assembly member Simon Mbugua.
The judge said the cases raise substantive questions of law and should be heard by three judges.
Mr Omtatah accuses the Central Bank of Kenya and its head Patrick Njoroge of contravening the law by using a portrait of Kenya’s first President Jomo Kenyatta on the notes.
The activist argues CBK is acting unlawfully by directing the old Sh1,000 notes to be withdrawn by October 1.
For his part, Mr Mbugua accuses CBK of failing to allow citizens to express their views before printing the notes.
He says CBK is using the architectural masterpiece that is the KICC to sneak Mzee Kenyatta’s portrait onto the currency.
Mr Omtatah argues several architectural perspectives could have been used to present KICC on the notes, including the tower itself, the amphitheatre and the podium, “without dragging the statue to the foreground”.
The activist adds that the statute legally is not different from the Mzee Kenyatta portrait that appears on the old notes and coins.
