Mail management at Kira Municipal Council

Abstract

The research was carried out at Kira Municipal Council on the management of incoming and outgoing mails with an aim of looking at the current system used in mail management. The researcher had the following objectives; to find out the different types of correspondences handled, to establish how the correspondences are managed, to find out the challenges affecting mail management, to propose strategies for effective mail handling at Kira Municipal Council. The research was qualitative in nature and it used observation, interview and document review methods that helped the researcher to generate findings and draw conclusions. The number of respondents were three in number of which the head was a records officer who was a woman followed by the assistant and the last one who was still on training. The data collected was analyzed and findings were presented under themes in relation to the study objectives. The study discovered different types of correspondences managed at KMC which included reports, complaints, legal cases, requests, summons and requisitions and how mails are managed at KMC like the incoming mails are received and recorded by the officer on duty in the entry book and the outgoing mail are dispatched by the office through the courier company for example Posta Uganda and there some routines that are followed during mail management like receiving the mail, sorting, opening the mail, maring the mail, recording, distributing the mail, speedy disposal for incoming mails and collection of outgoing mail, entering the mail, folding the mail, folding the letters, preparation of envelopes, sorting, weighing & stamping and dispatching for outgoing mails. The study revealed problems and solutions associated with the management of incoming and outgoing correspondences at KMC like rush hour, misfiling of mails, loss of mails, tiresome & repetitive work, small space and lack of automated system and the solutions were; independent management of records, monitoring movement of mails, development of an electronic system, motivation of employees and tracking of lost mails. The study also revealed the conclusion which is as much as Kira Municipal Council registry is trying its level best to do well with the records since it is the central place for records work at KMC, more concerns about the records security still come up like loss of mails even before they are dispatched to the courier company.