how to transform yourselves and the world around you, i would like to offer you a few lessons. even if you just remember one of these, it may be enough, but it may help if you took some notes and pulled them out every so often for reference. the first is one that you may have come across. warren buffett is an american investor, who many of you may have heard of. the companies in his investment portfolio currently employ hundreds of thousands of people, and buffett has been investing since the 1950s, so he has employed millions more. in other words, he knows exactly what it takes to hire a good employee. here is what he says : we look for three things when we hire people. we look for intelligence, we look for initiative or energy, and we look for integrity. and if they don't have the latter, the first two will kill you. his point was that, all too often, potential employers and employees get overly excited about their grades out of university. employers become enthusiastic about the skills that potential employees bring to the organisation. what they forget, and what buffett ’ s point is, is that skills, intelligence and initiative are good for accomplishing tasks. however, when the people you hire do not have integrity, they can actually use their proficiency to bring down the organisation. what is often forgotten is the last part of buffett ’ s quote : if you are going to get someone without integrity, you want them lazy and dumb. in other words, without integrity, you would rather not have – or be – an employee with skills and energy. i would like to go back briefly to the issue of technology, but approaching it from a different perspective. we have agreed that some of you will be closely involved in the development of the technologies of the future, and the applications riding on that technology. even today, i receive multiple developers in my office, who would like to showcase their fintech innovations. frankly, some of them are nowhere near ready for the market, and are nothing better than class projects. but that is not the point. the bigger point is that we are right to be excited to be at the forefront of innovation. but i believe that the bigger task in the coming years and decades, and where considerable work is required, is in the developing of the ethics of technology. it is not enough to add more bells and whistles to a mobile phone application. it is not enough to write code for the internet of things

from 1 october 2009, value capping was effected with all payments above kshs. 1 million being made through the real time gross settlement system ( rtgs ). this initiative will enhance the security and efficiency of high value payments. let me at this juncture thank banks, government ministries and other market players for their support in implementing value capping. the central bank will continue working with all concerned players to educate the public on value capping and to address implementation bottlenecks that may arise. 8. whilst initiatives to modernize the payment system continue, we remain cognizant of the cash based nature of our economy. the central bank is therefore reviewing currency management to ensure availability of “ clean money ” at a reasonable cost to kenyans. the bank is, in conjunction with the kenya bankers association ( kba ), exploring the establishment of currency centres. these centres are expected to reduce the operational costs incurred by banks in moving cash to existing central bank branches. this move is also expected to support the provision of “ clean ” notes and coins to kenyans across the country. pilot currency centres identified jointly with kba in nyeri, meru and nakuru are expected to be operational very soon once modalities are finalized. 9. ladies and gentlemen : as i draw to a close, let me briefly highlight developments in the bond market with regard to infrastructure bonds. the central bank successfully raised ksh. 18. 5 billion for the government through an infrastructure bond in february 2009. this bond has not only facilitated financing of the government ’ s infrastructure program but also set the pace for the issuance of similar bonds by corporate entities. 10. the recent successful bond issuances by kengen and safaricom are illustrative of this trend. the success of these bonds undoubtedly would not have been possible without the support of the banking sector. we look forward to this continued support including the recently launched second government infrastructure bond. this, coupled with automated trading in the nairobi stock exchange will be important for a vibrant bond market. 11. ladies and gentlemen : these developments are in line with core mandates of the central bank and also the policy drive provided by the vision 2030 blueprint. finally, as we draw towards the festive season, let me wish you happy holidays and a rewarding 2010. thank you and god bless you.