Malawi Postal Corporation (MPC) braves competition
Malawi Postal Corporation (MPC) said it has come up with three services that would put it back on the market with a competitive edge.
The services to be officially opened tomorrow by the Minister of Information and Civic Particia Kaliati are minibuses, fast cash money transfer and express mail.
Speaking to journalists in Blantyre, Post Master General Mike Makawa said the coming in of internet services and fast transport like minibuses had caught the parastatal on the back foot.
He said the parastatal has 12 minibuses which will be operating in the rural areas: five in the South, four in the Centre and three in the North.
He said the minibuses would not compete with the formal buses as they would carry passengers while delivering mail in rural post offices.
He said the bus fares would not be different from those prevailing on the market as the institution was not in competition with minibus operators.
The post master general, who could not reveal how much was paid for the buses, dismissed reports that the institution misused donor funds when is purchased the minibuses.
He said services like the Fast Cash Money Transfer would facilitate fast secure and reliable movement of money in rural areas where there are no formal banking facilities.
Malawi Postal Corporation (MPC) said it has come up with three services that would put it back on the market with a competitive edge.
The services to be officially opened tomorrow by the Minister of Information and Civic Particia Kaliati are minibuses, fast cash money transfer and express mail.
Speaking to journalists in Blantyre, Post Master General Mike Makawa said the coming in of internet services and fast transport like minibuses had caught the parastatal on the back foot.
“Mails are dwindling because of the coming in of internet, so we have come up with these services to counteract the competition on the market,” Makawa said.
He said the parastatal has 12 minibuses which will be operating in the rural areas: five in the South, four in the Centre and three in the North.
He said the minibuses would not compete with the formal buses as they would carry passengers while delivering mail in rural post offices.
“The main purpose is to carry mail in places where we don’t have transport and our aim is to provide sustainable post services and we are not digressing from our core business,” Makawa said.
He said the bus fares would not be different from those prevailing on the market as the institution was not in competition with minibus operators.
The post master general, who could not reveal how much was paid for the buses, dismissed reports that the institution misused donor funds when is purchased the minibuses.
“We are in transport business and the issue of carrying passengers is not a new phenomena, it is practiced in Zambia,Tanzania and even in the UK they have the Royal Mail Service,” Makawa said.
He said services like the Fast Cash Money Transfer would facilitate fast secure and reliable movement of money in rural areas where there are no formal banking facilities.
MPC was established by an Act of Parliament –the Communications Act No 41 of 1998, following government’s decision to split Malawi Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (MPTC) into entities, namely Malawi Posts Corporation (MPC) and Malawi Telecomm Limited, which was privatised.
