Companies
Posta picks insider John Tonui as new postmaster general
Tuesday February 14 2023
A Kenya Posta employee wheels packages from a truck. FILE PHOTO | NMG
The Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK) has named John Tonui, a long-serving human resource general manager, as the new Postmaster-General, replacing Dan Kagwe, who is retiring.
The appointment was made by the ICT Cabinet Secretary Edward Owalo and took effect on February 13.
“I am pleased to inform you that the government has appointed you as chief executive officer and postmaster-general in the service of the Postal Corporation of Kenya for a period of three years with effect from February 13, 2023,” the letter of appointment read.
Mr Tonui beat 18 other candidates, including the general manager Milka Mugwe and former GM of Finance, Peter Korir.
Mr Tonui was appointed as acting postmaster-general in December last year, replacing Mr Kagwe, who retires in March after a seven-year stint.
Mr Tonui, with 30 years of experience, joined Posta as an assistant postal controller, rising through the ranks to GM Human Resources.
He faces an uphill task of turning around the fortunes of the loss-making state agency, which is in financial distress and has been unable to remit dues to its staff retirement scheme.
Unpaid salaries
Its more than 2,500 employees have missed their salaries for months.
The management staff were paid their November 2022 dues last week and are still waiting for December 2022 and January 2023 salaries.
Of their unionised workers, only the lowest Grade 11 staff were paid their December 2022 salaries last week, while the rest in other grades are still waiting for their pay.
The company is keen on shifting to the lucrative e-commerce business as it plans to move away from its traditional methods of physical delivery of parcels to its clients.
“We are moving out of our traditional operations, and we shall set up warehouse facilities in all 47 counties and boost our online business portfolio to attract more clients,” said Mr Tonui.
