By Saio Marrah
The Managing Director of the Sierra Leone Postal Service (SALPOST), Brima Katta, has revealed the institution’s plans to provide different digital services in the country.
Addressing invitees at SALPOST’s headquarters in Freetown on Friday 7th October 2022 to commemorate World Post Day, which fell on Sunday, 9th October, Katta said: “Since I took office, my target operating module has been to offer diversified products and services on a digital platform using our footprint across the country.”
Among the various services, he said they will be providing in collaboration with the appropriate institutions, is the digital mobile payment wallet, and E-government systems that include financial services thereby liaising with the Central Bank to get financial licence. The institution will also serve as a point of renewal of driver's license, and purchase of passport forms.
He said they have now got a solution provider based in the UK, and have been working with the postal services of Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Nigeria, given SAPOST’s proven record.
The institution will also provide marriage and death certificates at their different offices across the country.
He said as a means of bringing the institution back to life, the Ministry of Information and Communications, is working toward developing a Cabinet Paper that will be taken to Parliament for approval.
In the area of financial services, SALPOST will be collaborating with the banks in what he called “agency banking.”
The theme for this year’s commemoration is “post for the planet; green energy for a reliable and resilient sector,” and in that regard he quoted the statement of the Director General of the union which says: “We can no longer ignore the climate emergency. Drastic changes in our environment are beginning to have a drastic impact on our daily lives and livelihoods. The scientific contention is clear, human activities are driving climate change, and international organisations, governments, and civil societies have called for urgent actions for all sectors to avoid the worst impact of this crisis’’.
Katta challenged the postal sector and its partners to take creative actions to reduce carbon emissions.
He made reference to private courier service company DHL, with the sole aim of maximizing profit, while SALPOST is a state -owned entity bound by international treaties.
He said the fundamental to those treaties is “Universal Social Service.” For this, the MD said the job of the post is to serve humanity and that their universal obligation is that every human being has a right to mail delivery everywhere on earth at an affordable cost.
He said another difference between them and other delivery agencies is that the postal service is in union with 192 countries, a single territory, one mail management system, track, and trace.
He pointed out that if you post through SALPOST to the USA, it is the USA postal service that will deliver it to the last mile.
Katta highlighted challenges like backlogs of salaries and the non-payment of retirees’ benefits between 2010 and 2020 but noted that with the support from the MIC and Ministry of Finance (MOF), they have succeeded in solving those issues.
In his keynote address, the Deputy Minister of MIC, Solomon Jamiru called on all stakeholders to recommit to transforming SALPOST and postal business in Sierra Leone into a reliable, resilient, and efficient postal service to serve customers and contribute significantly to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He said SALPOST must lead the efforts locally towards reducing emission and carbon neutral cross border services in its operations and be able to peer review its performance in the sub-region, the continent, and beyond, as well as attract the resources needed for the task.
Jamiru said there are currently so many businesses exploring the prospect of an online postal service, where mail could be delivered electronically, and the service providers could later print and deliver to destinations.
He said SALPOST has to either migrate into digital and carbon reduction technology or be thrown out of the job market.
Universal Postal Union (UPU) was established in 1847, and that World Post day was declared in Tokyo Congress in 1969.
World postal day is to commemorate the effort of 650 million postal workers in 192 countries across the world that serve over 5 billion people
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