By David Mukara

October 9^th, 2018

Kenya joined the rest of the world in celebrating the 144^th World Post Day, with Postal Corporation of Kenya launching a commemorative stamp in honour of South African freedom hero and philanthropist Nelson Mandela.

The event which took place in Nairobi was attended by Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology Mr Joe Mucheru, Principal Secretary in the State Department of Broadcasting and Telecommunications Mrs Fatuma Hirsi Mohammed, Universal Postal Union (UPU) Director General Ambassador Hussein Bishar and South African High Commissioner to Kenya Ms. Coleta Mqulwana among others.

Cabinet Secretary Mr. Joe Mucheru said that the government in collaboration with the Communication Authority of Kenya is working on a National Addressing system, which is going to boost local and regional e-commerce in a great way.

The National Addressing System provides for, among others, the naming, numbering of streets and properties, and coding. This will facilitate easy identification and location with the overarching goal of ensuring that every person in the country has an address through which they can be reached. This will also enable digitized maps for use in the management of settlements and urban communities.

The CS also said the Ministry is working with stakeholders in Government to ensure that Posta Kenya is mandated as the preferred logistics and payment services provider in Kenya.

He noted that despite the difficulties experienced in the Postal and Courier business worldwide, the Corporation is able to finance its operations from internally generated funds.

Principal Secretary in the State Department of Broadcasting Mrs. Fatuma Hirsi Mohammed said that the Ministry will continue to provide an enabling policy and legal framework to ensure the continued growth of the Postal and Courier sector.

During the event, Posta also rewarded students who won this year’s letter writing competition for young people. Brenda Wambui, a 13-year old pupil from Gathiru Primary School in Kiambu County emerged the winner. She received prize money of Kshs 100,000. Other winners were Linda Chepkoech, Dhara Shah, Yash Patel and Larus Mateu.

Universal Postal Union Director General Ambassador Hussein Bishar said contrary to what many people think, technology will not take up the role of postal and courier services but the two will complement each other.

This year’s theme was the  Post Day theme was: The Post: Delivering goods to the world, which the CS said reminds us to strive for full integration which calls for the involvement of all players in the postal supply chain, including customs and transport as well as the facilitation of cross-border e-commerce.