Melektegnas or Postegnas

The Ethiopian Postal System was established by an Imperial Edict of 9 March 1894.Before then, correspondence in Ethiopia was exchanged by special couriers, called Melektegnas (postegnas). These tough individuals carried their letters visibly, attached to a cleft stick, armed with guns, sabers, or lances, they rode by horse, mule, or camel through many wild and remote areas. Attacked by wild and animals and robbers, it was found necessary to place them under the protection of the powerful Provincial Governors. Envelopes held in a cleft stick became the symbol of the Ethiopian Posts a distinct symbol still today. As there were no post offices outside Addis Ababa, Harar and Dire Dawa until the mid-1920s, mail sent to the interior continued to be carried by melektegnas even into the 1930s

Mr. Alfred llg

The organization of the first postal services was entrusted by Emperor Menelik II to Mr. Alfred Ilg, a Swiss engineer, who was also entrusted with the construction of the railway, telegraph and telephones in the Empire. He was born in Frauenfeld, Northeast of Zurich, Switzerland, in 1854. Mr. Alfred fig imported some Swiss postal administrators who gradually trained Ethiopians for this task.

The first Ethiopian Stamps and the letter written for membership in Universal Postal Union Emperor Menelik II

Emperor Menelik II was the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1889 to 1913. Emperor Menelik II in addition to strengthening his administrative power he played remarkable transformations by introducing railways, telegraph, telephone and modern postal services. The Emperor Menelik II laid the foundation of modern postal system. Thus, the history of Ethiopia’s Postal Service dates from 1894, the 125^th anniversary of which is observed by issuing the stamps.

The first Ethiopian Stamps which were printed in Paris in 1894, and were sold for the first time in Harar, in early 1895. Later these stamps were sold in other parts of the country such as Dire Dawa, Entoto and Addis Ababa. These stamps were valid only for inland postage as Ethiopia was not then a member of the Universal Postal Union. Based on the letter written by the Emperor Menelik II to the Universal Postal Union (UPU), on November 1, 1908, Ethiopia became a member of the Universal Postal Union. That auspicious occasion was commemorated by a new set of stamps, the first to be offered to Ethiopian bilingual form. They were seven denominations. Four of the stamps showed an effigy of Menelik II wearing his golden crown and three with a drawing of the Lion of Judah. The second issue of these stamps served until 1919 when a new set of 15 stamps was issued. 1919 onwards, the Ethiopian postal service enterprise designed and issued different types of stamps depicting the country’s historical, cultural, fauna and flora and commemorative stamps of different sorts.

Historical progress of Ethiopian Postal Service in brief

The Ethiopian Postal service after its establishment by law in 1894, it has passed through various mile stones. The major mile stones are presented as follows.

• On November 1, 1908, Ethiopia became a member of the Universal Postal Union.
• In 1952 Ethiopian Postal Service separated from Ethiopian Telecommunication and established as a separate entity.
• In 1966 Postal Proclamation No.240/1966 was issued which laid the groundwork for improvement, expansion and modernization of Ethiopia’s Postal Service. This Proclamation established the Post Office as independent department of the Ministry of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones. By such independence, the Post Office has, on its own initiative, been able to carry out its plan for improvement and expansion of inland and international services, giving particular care to bring such services to every town and villages in Ethiopia where they will contribute to the social, cultural and economic development of the community.
• Ethiopia became member of Pan African Postal Union in 1980 to strengthen its international ties,
• EMS was established in Ethiopia in 1988 in response to the expansion of couriers in the postal market.
• Recently by the regulation No.165/2009, the Ethiopian Postal Service established as public enterprise in 2009.
• Currently, the Ethiopian Postal service having 720 post offices branches and 2200 employees is providing various services such as Letter Post, Parcel, Philately, Postal Museum and EMS services, Post Business, Agency services, transportation and Logistics. Moreover, it is also using different kind of transportation means for shipment of mails such as air transport, Road Transport and own Vehicles. In line with this, the Ethiopian Post is applying technologies to improve the operational efficiency like International Postal System, Track and trace, Post Global System for domestic mail processing, International.

Now, the focus of the Ethiopost is on reforming the organization to catch up with modernization of technologies in the postal industry and strengthening the competitiveness in the market, Customer oriented approach, Operational efficiency and effectiveness, Diversification of service and product, changing the image of the organization and the holistic capacity building of the organization including human resource, leadership, infrastructure and structural changes to achieve the Excellency in the Postal Industry and to contribute significantly to the growth of the country. All in all, the above shown commemorative stamps are issued to celebrate 125^th journey of the Ethiopian Postal Service Enterprise.