GAZETTE NOTICE NO. 10568

NOTICE is given that pursuant to the provisions of section 47 (c) of the Kenya Information and Communications Act, Cap. 411A, the Communications Authority of Kenya wishes to issue the following Security Guidelines for the Postal Sub-sector in Kenya: Terms and Definitions The following definitions shall be applicable for these guidelines, unless the context requires otherwise: “Access control” in physical security refers to the practice of restricting entrance to a property, a building, or a room to authorized individuals; “Agent” person or entity involved in any part of the provision of postal services in respect of a mail item. Agent include both employees of and subcontractors to the mail service contractor, together with the employees of and subcontractors to other agents. They also include 1st August, 2025 THE KENYA GAZETTE devices, equipment and property of the aforesaid which are utilized in the provision of postal services for the item concerned; “Courier services” means any specialized service for the collection, dispatch, conveyance, handling and delivery of postal articles; “Damage” – means any physical injury to a mail item (other than that caused by interference or accidental damage) occurring after the time of acceptance of that mail item by the relevant Licensee and before its delivery to the person to whom or at the premises to which it is addressed; “Delivery and acceptance” - A postal article shall be considered delivered and accepted if; (a) to have been delivered to the addressee— (i) when it is delivered into a private letter box or bag of the addressee; (ii) when it is left at the house, or office of the addressee as set out thereon, or with the employee, agent or any other person authorized to receive it; or (iii) where the addressee is a guest or is a resident at a hotel, hostel or lodging, when it is left with the proprietor or manager of the hotel, hostel or lodging or with his agent; or (b) to have been received by a postal licensee when it is deposited into a posting box or handed over to an employee or agent of a postal service operator authorized to receive it. “Employees” - means persons that have been engaged on a permanent, temporary, casual or part-time basis or workers (including those engaged under contract to provide services), who are (or may be) involved in conveying, receiving, collecting, sorting, delivering or otherwise handling or have access to mail items in the course of their work; “Interference” - means tampering with a mail item contrary to relevant laws and regulations; “Licensee” - means the holder of a postal and courier licence under the Kenya Information and Communications Act, 1998; “Loss” - means the physical loss of a mail item, other than as a result of: (a) having been stolen, (b) being incorrectly addressed, at any time after the acceptance of that mail item by the Licensee and before its delivery to the person to whom or at the premises to which it is addressed, within 15 working days of its due day of delivery; “Mail” means postal article “Parcel” means a postal article which is posted at the office of a licensee as a parcel or is received at another office; “Postal article” means any article or thing transmissible by post, including but not limited to letters, aerogrammes, postcards and parcels but does include such article or thing as the Authority determines not to be transmissible by post; “Serious incident” means a harmful event that occurs on a site during operations; “Screening” means examination of mail by technical or other non- intrusive means that is intended to identify and/or detect explosives “Verify” means process of confirming the items declared by the consignor “Critical postal facility” means office of exchange; air mail unit; postal facilities where aviation security screening is completed; the final postal facility where mail items transit prior to dispatch via air “Suspicious Item”– refers to any postal article that is highly unusual compared to those which are typically processed. 1. INTRODUCTION The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) is mandated under section 47 (c) of the Kenya Information and Communications Act, CAP 411A to promote development of postal systems and services in accordance with recognized international standards, practices and public demand. Section 12 of the Kenya Information and Communications (postal and courier regulations) Regulations, 2010 requires a licensee to take reasonable steps to improve mail security and combat postal crimes. 2. BACKGROUND The security of mail remains a challenge for players in the postal sub-sector. With increased demand and adoption of postal and courier services and last-mile delivery, it is critical that the service providers take precautions on how they handle mail. These guidelines are aimed at enhancing mail security which will boost consumer confidence in the postal sub-sector. 3. CITATION These guidelines may be cited as Security Guidelines for the Postal sub-sector in Kenya. 4. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GUIDELINES These guidelines will supersede the “Code of Practice on Integrity of Mail” and Guidelines on Mail Security annexed to the courier operator licences. 5. SCOPE These Guidelines shall apply to all postal and courier licensees in Kenya, their franchisees, agents or sub-contractors involved in the conveyance, receipt, collection, sortation, delivery or handling of postal articles. 6. OBJECTIVES OF THE GUIDELINES The guidelines are intended to: (a) Provide for the general security of mail; (b) Minimize the exposure of mail to the risk of loss, theft, damage and/or interference; (c) Maintain and improve licensees performance in the handling of mail for the good of the whole postal sub-sector; and (d) Ensure adequate safety measures to safeguard life, property and mail items 7. GUIDELINES The guidelines are as follows; 7.1 Security Requirements for Critical Postal Facilities Physical security requirements for critical postal facilities shall include a combination of security measures such as; (a) Perimeter barriers, (b) Adequate lighting, (c) Locking mechanisms and key control, (d) Uniformed or identifiable security guards or personnel, and (e) Closed-Circuit Television and alarm or intrusion detection system 7.2 Security of Mail and Safety of Persons 7.2.1 Licensees shall establish and implement policies and procedures to provide for the safety of persons and security of premises, vehicles and equipment involved in the collection, conveyance or delivery of mail. The requirement on safety of persons also applies to any third party in the vicinity of mail, but not directly involved in the collection, conveyance or delivery of mail. 7.2.2 The policies and procedures shall provide for the process of identification and handling of prohibited articles and suspicious postal articles. 7.2.3 The policies and procedures should incorporate risk assessment and shall at a minimum provide for: 7.2.4 Allocation of responsibilities to specific personnel within the organizations for the implementation of and compliance with the policies and procedures. 4690 4690 7.2.5 Establishment of a mail handling area which must be separate from postal/outlet service area. 7.2.6 Controlled access to the mail center and handling areas by its agents with mail handling responsibilities. 7.2.7 The process of verifying the contents of postal articles in order to determine their qualification of acceptance, conveyance or delivery. 7.2.8 The mechanism and plan for the screening and dealing with prohibited articles and suspicious mail items. 7.2.9 The measures to be taken to prevent, detect and address the loss, theft, damage or interference with postal articles. 7.2.10 Licensees shall ensure the policies and procedures are regularly reviewed. 7.3 Information and Incident Reporting Requirements 7.3.1 Licensees shall ensure that all incidents of loss, theft of, damage to, or interference with postal articles, are recorded in reasonable detail, which shall include: (a) The date, time and place of the incident; (b) The number of (or estimate) mail items involved in the incident; (c) Any other particulars relating to the incident which it would be reasonable to record such as the value of the item. 7.3.2 Licensees shall submit on a quarterly basis a report detailing all incidents that have taken place, which shall include: (a) The number of mail items which were lost, stolen, damaged or interfered with during the period; and (b) Actions taken for each of the incidents. 7.3.3 Incidents which are ranked as "Serious Incidents” shall to be reported to the Authority as soon as reasonably practicable and, in any event, within 48 hours of the licensee becoming aware of their occurrence. 7.4 Mail Integrity Postal and courier employees play an important role in operations. It is therefore fundamental that licensees put in place sufficient security measures to ensure potential security risks arising from personnel handling mail are mitigated. In this regard, the Licensees shall: 7.4.1 Ensure all employees and agents are engaged in compliance with the laws and regulations of the Republic of Kenya 7.4.2 Ensure the personnel are appropriately trained in order to reduce and minimize security risks to the business, its customers and employees. 7.4.3 Ensure all employees or agents are aware of the offences related to the provision of postal services. 8. Review of the Guidelines This Guideline may be reviewed from time to time, to ensure that it meets the Authority’s statutory obligations. Dated the 1st July, 2025. DAVID MUGONYI, MR/7782391 Director-General/CEO.