The Postal Corporation of Kenya (Posta) is closing down 125 of its 625 post offices in a restructuring drive meant to return the parastatal to profitability.
Nearly half of the targeted branches have already been shut while the rest will be closed by the end of next month, effectively reducing the number of post offices in the country by about 20 per cent to 500 and marking the first step in the company’s cost-cutting efforts.
The closure will reduce the expenditure of the state corporation on commercially unviable branches, which it estimates stand at 300, and cost it about Sh1.012 billion in expenses every year.
“Keeping the 625 offices open in their old form would have continued to drain capital from the investments we need to make in courier, e-commerce, payments and addressing,” said Postmaster-General and Posta Chief Executive Officer John Tanui.
“We are alive to the financial inclusion cost of the closures, particularly the loss of agency. That is why we are not abandoning these locations. We are converting them into fulfilment hubs.”
In Nairobi, post offices closed or targeted for closure include Village Market, Enterprise Road and Jamia in the city centre.
Post office boxes at Mathare Post Office branch along Juja Road in Nairobi.
Photo credit: Francis Nderitu | Nation Media Group
Holders of boxes at the closed offices will be moved to nearby ones, while other branches will be merged to reduce operational costs.
At the same time, Posta is reducing its workforce to 1,530 from 1,990 in cost-cutting efforts as it strives to return to profit amid a changing technological environment that has challenged its traditional business model.
This comes after the Cabinet ordered the corporation to undergo restructuring and help it regain its footing. State corporations deemed unviable are being shut, sold or merged.
Posta made the first steps in restructuring last year. It began the processing of selling stake in its courier arm to an e-commerce strategic investor in a bid to raise Sh2.5 billion to recapitalise it and improve operations.
In the financial year ending June 2025, Posta posted a profit of Sh488 million from a loss of Sh1.08 billion the previous year, marking a return to profitability after many years.
The profit was largely supported by a boost in revenue due to the recovery of a Sh1.54 billion debt by Huduma Kenya in rent arrears.
According to Mr Tonui, the corporation is banking on cost renationalisation, reforms and a strategic investor to rejig the company and sustain the profit momentum.
