Postal services and addresses in Kenya

Dear Kean,
through previous experience with my clients i always advice on using wells fargo, dhl or g4s. this is because of convenience and timely delivery especially of the recipient does not have a permanent postal address.
this is because once you send the parcel via post, they just put a notice in your mailbox for you to collect it. without proper address or if you don't frequently visit your mail box  this means that it may take weeks or months to be collected.

otherwise if you insist on using the post just the correct name, address and postal code(area code) will suffice.)
i hope this helps

Hi,

Thank you for the advice.

A followup question, Just to make sure. Does most of the houses or apartment buildings have have an address with a post box. As I have heard that some houses does not have any mail box (which would be strange) ?

Kind Regards,

Kean

I agree.  The system in Kenya uses PO Boxes.  Postcodes refer to the post office location. Not everyone has a PO Box though. 

If you know the physical address, then send it by courier (as suggested above).  G4S or Wells Fargo are cheaper than DHL.  If you don't have the physical address, you can provide the contact number of the recipient and they will be contacted when the mail arrives at the courier local office and can be collected from there.

Courier is arguably more efficient than the postal service.

Hi,

Thank you all for the clarifications.

It was very helpfull.

Kean

Hello :
The Post office work very well, are cheaper and have various services to suit your needs .

Rgds
PM.

Hi Pauline,

Would you say that all apartments in Kenya have an official address. I would think so as apartments in general have an electric connection or gas connection, waste management etc.

Would you say that you easily get the mail to the address in an apartment or do I need to register the apartment some how ?

In many European countries Europe you make a moving registration to the postal services, in this way they know where to send the mail if you get any.

No. They do NOT. The adresses may be written that way but they never get delivered to the exact location unless you are using DHL which may still not get to that location. You are safer off usinf DHL and a name and identification number of the receipient. Insert the mobile number so that they call him/her when the mail arrives.

The most common but not so safe if the mail is valauble, is the post office.

Electricity and water meters are identified by serial/account numbers rather than physical addresses.  As for gas connections and waste management - this is Kenya!!!  Gas is bought in cylinders and waste  management is patchy at best, or non existent.

As I have said (above) many Kenyan properties do not have physical addresses.  The closest you might get is the land registry plot number.  For the purposes of parcel delivery and no PO Box, use a courier.

If you are sending anything more than documents from outside the country, expect some customs charges too.  These can be quite expensive.