Tanzania Posts Corporation

A German postal agency was established on 27 February 1885 in Lamu using German stamps for mail.^[2] The Postal Service was operated jointly along with telegraph service administered under the German East African authority. Mail was carried from the colony to Europe using steamers and only post offices along the coast had regular service. At its peak the government operated 54 post offices (1913). The German government also had set up a network of telegraphs and telephones, In 1914 there were 34 telegraph offices operating 2,537 kilometers of land lines.^[3]

After the British took over control of Tanganyika, the postal service was handled by them. The British consolidated all the postal and communication entities in Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika (KUT) under the umbrella of the East African Posts and Telecommunications Administration.^[4] Even post-independence in the early 1960s the postal and communications services were managed under the newly formed East African Community.^[5] However, after the East African community was dissolved in 1977 the Tanzanian government established the Tanzania Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (TP&TC).^[6]

On December 31, 1993, the parliament enacted multiple laws to help deregulate the operations of posts and telecommunications to increase their autonomy and efficiency. Following this three new independent organizations were created.^[6]

• The Tanzania Posts Corporation (TPC) fully owned by the government of Tanzania in a form of a public corporation.
• The Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) as a limited liability public company.
• The Tanzania Broadcasting Center as the government public broadcasting channel for TV and Am Radio.

The Tanzania Postal Bank was formed before the TPC however, the banking division was part of the Tanzania Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (TP&TC). However, from 1 March 1992, the Tanzania postal bank was established as a successor to the Tanganyika Post office Savings which was established by the Post Office Savings Bank Ordinance of 1925 and became operational in 1927.^[7]

The Posts Corporation is mandated to run as a corporation without receiving funds from the Budget. This means that the corporation had to consolidate a large number of its loss making branches. To help serve the rural population continue to have access to the service the corporation started to franchise post offices. The Posts Corporation operates its mail delivery network using three types of post offices: Departmental Post Offices;Franchised Post offices and SUB post offices.^[8][9]