The Postal Corporation of Kenya (Posta) is closing down 125 of its 625 post offices in the country to cut down on costs, in a restructuring bid meant to return the State parastatal to profitability.
Nearly half of the targeted branches have already been shut down and the rest will be closed by the end of June, effectively reducing the number of post offices by about 20 percent to 500, marking the first step in the company’s cost-cutting efforts.
The closure will reduce the Postman’s expenditure on commercially unviable branches, which it estimates currently stand at about 300, and cost it about Sh1.012 billion in expenses yearly.
‘Keeping all 625 open in their old form would have continued to drain capital away from the investment we need to make in courier, e-commerce, payments and addressing,’ said John Tonui, postmaster-general and CEO of Posta.
‘We are alive to the financial inclusion cost of the closures, particularly the loss of agency, that’s why we are not abandoning these locations, we are converting them into fulfilment hubs.’
Every region in the country has been affected by the closures. In Nairobi, post offices closed or targeted for closure include the ones at Village Market, Enterprise Road and Jamia in Nairobi CBD. Holders of post offices boxes in the closed offices will be moved to nearby ones, while other branches will be merged.
At the same time, Posta is cutting down its staff by 440 to 1,530, from 1,990, in similar cost-cutting efforts, as it strived to return to profit amid a changing technological environment that has challenged its business model. This comes after the Cabinet ordered the corporation to undergo restructuring to help it regain its footing.
Last year, Posta took the first steps in its restructuring efforts, it began the processing of selling stake in its courier arm to an e-commerce strategic investor, to raise Sh2.5 billion to recapitalise it and improve operations.
In the year to June 2025, Posta posted a profit of Sh488 million, up from a loss of Sh1.08 billion the previous year, marking a return to profitability after years of lossmaking.
Its profit last year was largely supported by a boost in revenue due to the recovery of a Sh1.54 billion debt it was owed by Huduma Kenya in rent arrears.
According to Mr Tonui, the postman is banking on the cost renationalization, reforms, and a strategic investor to rejig the company and sustain the profitability it returned to last year.