Kenya to chair 24th UPU Congress in Geneva and future Council of Administration

Kenya will chair the 24th Universal Postal Congress in Geneva from 23 July to 12 August 2008 as well as the UPU’s Council of Administration for 2009-2012.

The Kenyan Government has confirmed that Mr. Bishar A. Hussein, a former Postmaster General of Kenya Post and currently Kenya’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, will chair the Congress.

When the UPU Council of Administration decided last February to change the venue of the 24th Universal Postal Congress from Nairobi to Geneva, it also passed a resolution inviting Kenya to chair the Congress and the future Council of Administration. Kenya has now formally accepted these invitations.

Kenya will also chair the Council of Administration for 2009-2012, a UPU body made up of 41 member countries and responsible for overseeing the organization’s finances, international postal regulations and strategic direction of the Union between Congresses.

In other Congress news, France’s Edouard Dayan, current UPU Director General, and China’s Guozhong Huang, current Deputy Director General, will run for a second four-year mandate. No other candidates have stepped forward for the top UPU jobs.
So far, Great Britain, Greece, the Russian Federation and Switzerland have announced their candidacy for the chairmanship of the Postal Operations Council, a 40-member UPU body in charge of overseeing a range of postal operational issues such as security, quality of service, technical cooperation and development, postal financial services and more. Other countries could still announce their candidacy up until Congress.

Kenya will chair the 24th Universal Postal Congress in Geneva from 23 July to 12 August 2008 as well as the UPU’s Council of Administration for 2009-2012.

The Kenyan Government has confirmed that Mr. Bishar A. Hussein, a former Postmaster General of Kenya Post and currently Kenya’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, will chair the Congress.

When the UPU Council of Administration decided last February to change the venue of the 24th Universal Postal Congress from Nairobi to Geneva (see UPU press release of 11.2.2008), it also passed a resolution inviting Kenya to chair the Congress and the future Council of Administration. Kenya has now formally accepted these invitations.

Kenya will also chair the Council of Administration for 2009-2012, a UPU body made up of 41 member countries and responsible for overseeing the organization’s finances, international postal regulations and strategic direction of the Union between Congresses.

Kenya’s Minister for Information and Communications, Samuel Poghisio, expressed gratitude to UPU member countries for according Kenya the opportunity to chair both the Congress and the Council of Administration, adding that the entire continent of Africa felt honoured.

In other Congress news, France’s Edouard Dayan, current UPU Director General, and China’s Guozhong Huang, current Deputy Director General, will run for a second four-year mandate. No other candidates have stepped forward for the top UPU jobs.
So far, Great Britain, Greece, the Russian Federation and Switzerland have announced their candidacy for the chairmanship of the Postal Operations Council, a 40-member UPU body in charge of overseeing a range of postal operational issues such as security, quality of service, technical cooperation and development, postal financial services and more. Other countries could still announce their candidacy up until Congress.

Some 1,500 delegates from the UPU’s 191 member countries will converge on Geneva in July and August for the Universal Postal Congress, held every four years. The international postal meeting will also draw hundreds of observers and participants from international organizations and shareholders from the postal sector at large.