By Kassim Ssematimba
Speaking at Kampala Railway Grounds where hundreds of stakeholders gathered to participate in the Postal & Courier Services Baraza, Thaddeus Musoke Nagenda who chairs Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA) recommended reforms that have to urgently be made to increase demand and uptake of courier services by the business community members in Uganda’s capital. One of these is the need to demystify these services by way of lowering prices and coming up with tailor-made products that are responsive to traders’ unique needs and peculiar circumstances.
He said as traders in Kampala downtown, they have a huge demand for courier services because they are into the business of frequent delivering and moving parcels and packages from one place to another. In most cases, he said, they use those informally offering such courier services who in most cases are Boda-Boda riders who are reckless, inconsistent and unprofessional. He observed that safe Boda riders have lately been trying to come into that space.
He admitted that the risks involved in using random Boda riders are high and thanked UCC for organizing the inaugural Baraza to create avenue for direct interaction between licensed/regulated courier service providers on one hand and potential consumers of their survives on the other. Full video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvreEp2eqsU&t=25s&pp=0gcJCYQJAYcqIYzv
Musoke Nagenda confessed that traders at the Baraza had learnt a lot and called for more collaboration between UCC, the courier operators and the traders downtown.
However, for the desired courier revolution to happen Musoke suggested the courier operators have to emulate the commercial banks and come down their high horses and get down to Kikubo and other trading hubs downtown because that’s where the real potential lies.
He said there was need for courier operators to engage with KACITA more so that their staff get to understand the tailor-made products that can work and be attractive for people trading and working downtown. He said commercial banks realized this long time ago, took business downtown to create proximity and they haven’t regretted since.
“They need to get down and understand our needs and we understand theirs too. Then we shall have a win-win kind of relationship. We get to access the quality, safe, secure, professional and reliable service the UCC ED has talked about and they too get to grow their business volumes. That way, we fly together otherwise those things of speaking too much English and operating in a very intimidating office environment in Kololo can only alienate people downtown yet the potential to do courier business down there is enormous,” Musoke Nagenda explained in a media interview on the sidelines of the Thursday Railway Grounds event that was addressed by ED Nyombi Thembo and other UCC officials.
To their credit, the organizers also staged a stalls’ exhibition whereby courier operators set up tents to showcase to consumers the services they offer besides getting feedback from consumers on how to serve the public better.
Nyombi Thembo said there is a huge potential to grow the courier business by leaps and bounds but he also made it clear that this business was too important, as an enabler of commerce, to be left without adequate regulation which UCC is by law mandated to spearhead.
He called upon consumers to shun illegal courier operators by always demanding for proof of UCC license whenever engaging with anyone who purports to offer them courier services.
He said streamlining and cleaning up the courier industry would improve Uganda’s reputation in the region as a country where any investor can comfortably do their business.
He made reference to the developed world where courier services are these days a key component of how commerce is effected and expressed optimism even Uganda is headed in that same direction.
Besides the ED Nyombi Thembo, the Commission’s Director for Economic Regulation, Content & Consumer Affairs Juliana Muheirwe is the other UCC official who sensitized consumers about the need to depend on only licensed courier operators during the Thursday Baraza. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
