#24
POSTA
Postal services in Kenya date back nearly two centuries ago. From as early as 1848, there are records of letters from the interior of Kenya, when the missionaries sent their correspondence by native runners to the Coast for onward transmission.
In 1890, a regular postal service in British East Africa (present day Kenya) was introduced, with initial post offices in the coastal towns of Mombasa and Lamu. The services expanded and by 1897 there were numerous post offices, majorly necessitated by the construction of the railway.
The use of letters was limited to the colonial administration and a small group of elites who had access to education and could read and write. However, over time, the use of letters became more widespread as literacy levels increased and more people gained access to education.
The Postal Corporation of Kenya, referred to as Posta, was established by an Act Of Parliament (PCK Act 1998). It operates as a commercial public enterprise, with the mission to deliver innovative superior communication, distribution and financial (payment) solutions to its customers, and create value to stakeholders.
Today, while email and instant messaging have become increasingly popular, particularly among the younger generations, sending letters remains a common form of communication in Kenya, particularly for official or formal correspondence. The Post Office remains the most certain, accessible, affordable, effective and time tested communications platform with a total of 623 outlets and nearly 400,000 post office boxes spread throughout the country.
Posta offers courier services through four main products: Express Mail Service (EMS) Kenya for both documents and parcels with over 3,000 destinations worldwide and 285 destinations locally; Posta Parcel, an affordable and secure way of sending parcels through the post locally and internationally; Posta Cargo, a clearing and forwarding agent which provides full logistics for customers that import items through Posta Parcel and EMS Kenya; and TravelLite for customers who prefer to travel light and have their luggage delivered on their behalf to post offices close to their destinations.
In 2021, Posta partnered with the Directorate of Immigration Services and launched a passport delivery service that sees Posta deliver passports to applicants at a convenient physical address of their choice, or at the nearest post office for a small fee. The agreement reduces the number of trips that passport applicants make to immigration offices to a single visit; for submission and biometrics.
In terms of financial solutions, Posta offers both domestic and institutional money orders, the latter specially designed for payment of fees for schools and colleges. Customers are assured of special low rates when they use this service.
Additionally, Posta has a network of over 500 offices that offer agency banking services, with more than half of these outlets being automated. Posta is in partnership with Safaricom, Mobikash and Airtel Money for money transfer via the agency services. Consumers can buy cash float, send and withdraw money in a safe and secure environment.
Moreover, in 2013, Posta launched Posta Pesa, an e-payment Financial Switch System that enables it to transfer operations such as agency banking, mobile money transfers, card-based transactions and online disbursements electronically on behalf of various stakeholders.
Staying true to the changing needs of society and technology, Posta launched Posta Pay last year. This is an electronic funds transfer (EFT) service that offers customers the opportunity to send and receive money instantly from various locations, both locally and internationally. Posta Pay can also be used to collect and disburse loans for the customers’ convenience, with the information being available for viewing in real time. The customers are then able to collect the loans at their preferred convenient location
In recent years, Posta has faced various challenges, including declining revenue due to technological advancements. The organisation is currently in a strategy of leveraging ICT to digitise all aspects of postal services: transforming it from Posta to ePosta. It has also entered into partnerships with various stakeholders to enhance its service delivery, as well as undertaken staff retraining and redeployment to improve efficiency and reduce costs. In a nutshell, facilitate a comprehensive shift in the mindset and values of the staff, to foster positive cultural change within the organisation.
John Kipyegon Tanui was recently appointed Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Posta. He is expected, if his formidable experience and leadership skills are anything to go by, to lead Posta, along with its extensive network of post offices, relevant local and international technology and finance partnerships, and refocused workforce, to play its critical and rightful role in the Kenyan economy.
The fact that Posta has embarked on digital transformation is a pointer to bigger things to come: a customer-obsessed organisation leveraging on technology to provide e-postal services.
