The Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK) is one of the most mismanaged parastatals.
Assets of the corporation have been allocated by the management; given to cronies and relatives.
For example, the car park at the headquarters, GPO, was turned into a restaurant hence chasing clients away who found it increasingly hard to find parking spaces at the building.
Land and buildings are sold without proper approval of the board.
Staff salaries are deliberately delayed, sometimes this is not deliberate because the mismanagement has cleared the accounts, nevertheless, the broke workers are then forced to take loans from digital lenders that are owned by its managers, chief among them Postmaster General Dan Kagwe.
Sources say Posta employees have been queuing to borrow money from InStapesa Limited and One Moja Limited and paying high interests.
The two companies have transacted loans worth millions of shillings from the 2,800 Posta employees, majority of them in financial stress. Some have even found themselves blacklisted and are in more financial distress than they were before.
“We are unable to access normal banks for loans because the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) has blacklisted us… we have families and children going to school. Last month we were paid on the 18th and now on the 11th we have not received our salaries,” a Posta worker told People Daily in March.
Sh1 billion annually
Posta told parliament that it requires Sh1 billion annually from the Treasury to keep its branches open.
The State corporation operates a vast network which currently stands at 623 post offices and partners with about 5,000 stamp vendor licensees across the country. A fete that, if managed well, would have made it one fo the best and efficient cargo couriers in the country if not East Africa (or even Africa)
“The corporation urgently requires an annual funding of Sh1 billion to support the non-profitable offices in line with revised national ICT policy 2020,” Dan Kagwe, the Postmaster General told the National Assembly’s Labour committee.
“The declining performance has necessitated submission of a petition to the National Treasury for bailout.”
The State agency is also seeking approval to increase postage charges by up to 30 percent in the turnaround efforts.
Under the revised rates that must get approval from the Communications Authority of Kenya, sending a letter weighing up to 20 grammes will increase to Sh110 from Sh85 reflecting a rise of 29.4 percent.
Letters weighing up to 50 grammes will now cost Sh195 up from Sh150 while the rate for those weighing up to 100 grammes has been increased to Sh340 from Sh265.
The move to increase the rates comes amid growing struggles by the State agency whose main service has taken a hit from Internet-based mailing systems and entry of private couriers into the sector.
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