Categories: Stories

Lame excuse

Recent statements by the Posts and Telecommunications Corporation that it may be forced to lay off some postmen because of the shortage of postage stamps should strongly be condemned.

For a large parastatal like the PTC embroilled in all kinds of scandals, one wonders whether this is just a lame excuse or one that is planned to justify losses that may occur in the parastatal.

In the first instance, does one need a stamp to post a letter? Not really. In fact, if the PTC was being properly administered, and with the full knowledge that it needs scarce foreign currency for stamps, it should long have discarded with the use of stamps, particularly in urban areas, leaving them for rural areas and perhaps for philatelists.

As for postage stamps, people can simply pay at the counter with the letters being stamped “postage paid”.

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Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

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