Post date: Aug 13, 2012 6:49:39 PM
BLANTYRE, MALAWI (AUGUST 13, 2012) (REUTERS) - Malawi's new money - launched in late May with distinct security and general features, is well into circulation.
Malawi's new bank notes are all the same size and lack distinct textural features, making them harder to identify for the visually impaired, activists for the blind say.
The kwacha now bears portraits of the country's freedom fighters and its notes and coins are smaller in size.But among the currency's new features, its lack of distinct dots and similarity in its notes sizes are making it difficult for the blind to identify.
The Reserve Bank has been accused of being insensitive to the visually impaired because it printed the new bank notes without advice from Malawi's Union of the Blind.
Forty eight-year-old Mary Phiri has been blind all her life. She makes a living from weaving and selling mats. She uses her hands to tell the value of money from it's size.
"It is very difficult to differentiate these new bank notes because they are of the same size, 1000 kwacha bank note feels the same as a 500 note," she said.
Maliko Biziweki lost his sight when he was six years old after an unknown illness.
"It is very difficult indeed so if there can be some improvement on sizes, maybe it will help us a little," said Biziweki.
Ezekiel Kumwenda the executive director of Malawi Union of the Blind, says the dots on the new currency notes are too small and should be big enough to easily trace using a finger.
"The bank you know, had lied to the nation that you know, that some of the features which have been placed on these bank notes can be accessible to people with visual impairment, a thing which is not true, because I myself you know, had also a chance to trace some of the features which they are saying," he said.
Officials at the Reserve Bank admit the government did not consult Malawi Union for the Blind before producing the notes.
After a recent meeting with the union, the bank agreed to make changes to the notes but did not give a time frame.
"To tell you the truth, printing bank notes is not cheap it is a huge expense. What we have actually done is to tell (the blind) what features are there at the moment because the currency is already in circulation. What we need to do, maybe going forward, is to enhance the features," said Ralph Tseka, spokesperson for the reserve bank.
Malawi devalued the kwacha by about 50 percent in May in order to unlock much needed foreign aid and avoid an economic free fall.
The reserve bank says the new look is in line with the country's Millennium Development Goals (MDG's) which include infrastructure and social development.
The new currency series will be used alongside old notes and coins until May 2013 when the latter will be phased out.