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Dear Editor,
Allow me to air my grievance regarding the Uganda Postal Service because I
think individuals or "rings" of crooks at the Post Office are doing a
disservice to our Economy.
I have lived outside the country for over ten years. When I was
attending school in the United States, I used to send a few dollars now and then
to friends and members of my family. I would simply fold a $20
note inside a letter and send the "letter" to Uganda. Being in
school then, money was tight and I couldn't afford to send hundreds at a time
via electronic transfer. But I was always ELATED to receive a letter from
family or friend telling me they had received their little "sugar". Of
course it always found them "completely broke" and I was their "savior". I
derived a lot of pleasure from that (at the micro level) - and so I'm sure did
the Ugandan economy (at the macro level). I'm sure many fellow Ugandans in
the Diaspora were doing just that. I don't know if I can say I
was proud of our Postal System at that point. I appreciated their
service. I guess I simply assumed they were doing their job - delivering
mail to addressees!
Well, have things changed! I'm still abroad BUT I am not sending
those "letters" anymore. Those thieving thugs at the Post Office have
deterred me. After losing several letters - not reaching the
addressees - I gave up! I lost several hundred dollars in these letters,
some of which contained small birthday gifts for kids.
So, let's see - now that I've stopped, who has lost? At the
micro level, loss begins with me. I no longer get that elation at
receiving thankful messages from home. Well, that's only
psychological and I shouldn't be complaining. But how about my Aunt who
cannot raise $50 school fees for my cousin, or my father who needs $100 to visit
a specialist, or my old friend who has lost his job and cannot pay $80 rent
for the next two months? Now, at micro level, these are the real
LOSERS! When they write to me, or when I learn about their needs, there's
no easy way for me to send them that "little" money (especially from where I
live in the U.S. Pacific). Why, because those nasty thugs at the Post
Office will grab it before it gets to them.
The LOSER at the Macro level is of course the Economy. Yes, the
economy could wait for the hundreds or thousands I'll send through electronic
funds (or wire) transfer. The question here is, How many such transfers
will I make in one year? Probably not too many. At the Macro level,
those small "letter" transfers sum up to a lot. Think of 10,000
Ugandans abroad sending $50 "letters" each month - that's $500,000 in
remittances a month, a big boost for the economy in terms of purchasing power
and foreign exchange.
The Postal System has BETRAYED our trust and in so doing
has undermined and continues to undermine our economy. Yet postal services
are supposed to be built on trust. A lot of these $20s
that should have come home end up being spent locally or elsewhere.
It doesn't make sense to "wire" someone $20 when the cost of the wire
transfer itself is $50 or even more!
I saw some figures on Ugandans' remittances recently - saying that they had
grossed more $$ than coffee exports. Well, the remittances could be much
higher, and even though the type I've mentioned might go undocumented,
their effect will be nonetheless real.
I don't know who is in charge at the Post Office but whoever is, now you
know. Because of your people - I hesitate to say "you" - there're
lots of dollars not flowing in - and trust me, dollars have a way of finding
"elsewhere" to go!
Charles Musana-Manyindo
U.S. Pacific Islands
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