Postal services still relevant—Malawi Posts Corporation on World Post Day

People transacting in Blantyre Post Office service hall

* Everything is going on well that is aimed at keeping the company afloat

* Amid technological advancements that have rendered posting mail almost obsolete

By Tikondane Vega, MANA

Despite the advent of new technology in the communication sector, Malawi Posts Corporation (MPC) services are still relevant, stressing that the corporation has been diversifying services as part of its turnaround strategy.

MPC’s Head of Public Relations, Ida Nkolimbo said this on Monday during the commemoration of World Post Day that falls on October 9, and Nkolimbo stressed that everything is going on well that is aimed at keeping the company afloat amid technological advancements that have rendered posting mail almost obsolete.

“The purpose of World Post Day is to bring awareness of the post service’s role in the everyday lives of people and businesses, as well as its contribution to global social and economic development,” she said.

“I just want to remind all people that Post Office was there, is there and shall be there always assisting people. We have reliable courier working day and night. Bring letters and everything to us and shall be delivered to exact place.”

She gave an example of MPC Courier, saying it is doing a very good job and has since commended the public for trusting MPC with the business, adding this is broadening the company’s revenue base.

In attesting to this, Lloyd Thomas — a teacher at St Andrews International Primary School — said MPC continues to play a key role in delivery of social services, emphasizing some of the services being offered cannot be easily replaced by digital services.

“There are some services that are a must that cannot go digital,” he said. “For example, parcels or movement of mail to rural communities where the levels of managing or understanding the internet and use of digital gadgets is very minimal.

“We are here today at MPC for education visit with the learners. We taught them about communication using letters and decided to visit so that they can understand the process and what happens behind the scene. This only tells us that post offices are still relevant,” Thomas said.

The theme for this year’s World Post Day is: “Together for trust: collaborating for a safe and connected future’ and according to Universal Postal Union’s (UPU) website, the theme urges governments and their postal services to support the development of a digital single postal territory that complements the extensive physical network developed over centuries.

It also extends an invitation to all of us to collaborate with the UPU to ensure that people everywhere need look no further than their local post office to find access to the digital economy.

The event was declared by the 1969 Universal Postal Congress in Tokyo as a means to mark the anniversary of the Universal Postal Union’s (UPU) creation in 1874.

UPU website says “post offices play a crucial role in fostering cohesive, inclusive, connected communities. Presently, over five million postal employees are entrusted with a variety of essential and personal items, from messages, gifts and goods, to money and medicines.

“The history of post is older than its written history. It is said that the first postal service was organized in the time of Augustus Caesar (62 BCE – 14 CE) in Rome. According to British Postal Museum, the oldest functioning post office is in the High Street in Sanquhar, Scotland. This post office has functioned since 1712 AD.

“World Post Day is celebrated to remember the establishment of the Universal Postal Union in 1874 in Switzerland’s capital, Bern. Celebrated across 151 countries, it was first declared World Post Day by the UPU Congress held in Tokyo, Japan in 1969.”

UPU maintains that the purpose of World Post Day is to bring awareness to the post’s role in the everyday lives of people and businesses, as well as its invaluable contribution to global social and economic development.

In Malawi, postal courier shall be enhanced with the advent of National Addressing System (NAS) being undertaken by Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) — which is aimed at assigning and allocating physical addresses to all residents in the country through property and house numbering and street naming.

NAS, initiated in 2016, is a comprehensive addressing system that identifies a person by house number, street name and postcode, whose pilot phase was done in the cities and has now rolled out into districts throughout the country.

Its benefits are that people would be able to have courier shopping delivered at their doorstep instead of physical visits to post offices and other courier service providers since the house numbers, street names and postcodes would be easily identifiable even digitally.—Additional reporting by Duncan Mlanjira, Maravi Express