Reinstating lost confidence

CAMPOST grappling with customer apathy
By Mbeh Moses Eben in Yaounde

Campost GM, Herve Beril

23 April 2004 to 23 April 2014; it is exactly ten years since the Cameroon Postal Services Corporation, Campost has been at the service of clients in and out of Cameroon. The General Manager of the state-run company says it is time enough for Campost not only to take stock of its activities but also identify stumbling blocks and devise strategies to turn them into stepping stones. HERVE BERIL says ten years is time enough for Campost to chart a new course for its growth and development.
    The French-born General Manager of Campost was speaking at a press conference in Yaounde, on 22 April 2014. The conference had as objective to announce plans for the celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the creation of Campost and keep the public abreast of the earmarked activities of the celebration.
    But the press conference also afforded Herve Beril occasion to enlighten the public on the strategies that Campost has adopted to surmount its day-to-day challenges; challenges that emanated in the most part from the loss of confidence in the company, after the hard-earned savings of thousands of poor Cameroonians disappeared mysteriously at the Postal Savings Bank sometime at the dawn of the year 2000. Some of the very distressed customers are still yearning for their money until today.

    That is why Herve Beril has announced a series of measures which according to him could serve as a panacea for the woes of Campost. The measures include among others the renewal and reinforcement of proximity with customers; presenting the true and of course the good image of Campost to the outside world; sharing Campost’s vision and values with customers; keeping customers abreast of advances and innovations operated at the company and above all reinforcing the sense of belonging among workers and partners of Campost.
    These measures were highlighted at the launching of the activities for the 10th anniversary celebration. The launching took the form of a customers’ forum organized in the town of Nkolandom near Ebolowa in the South Region.
Activities for the celebration were placed under the theme: ‘The Competivity of Campost and its Public Service Missions’ and included road-show publicity caravans organized along the streets of major towns of Cameroon; a tombola for customers who transfer money through Campost’s ”Melo”; and a contest for the best post office and the best Campost workers.
    It should be mentioned that after the crisis that hit the postal sector in the late 1990s and early 2000, when hundreds of billions of FCFA were declared missing, the government resolved to liberalize the postal sector and disengage from its management. This led to the creation by presidential decree on 23 April 2004 of Campost through the fusion of the then National Postal Corporation-SONAPOST and the ex-Post Office Savings Bank.
    But since the advent of Campost ten years ago, the public has been reticent and suspicious of the credibility of the new company. Even though Campost launched a series of interesting products very few Cameroonians have cared to give the company another try. This is because some customers who saved their money in the defunct Post Office Savings Bank are yet to recover their savings for almost two decades now. Also, some expatriates that were hired by government to manage the company instead proved to be hardened thieves than the Cameroonian managers. Some of these thieves from Europe stole and carted away several billions from the already ailing company. This further plunged the credibility of Campost and forced Cameroonians to turn to other private service providers to afford the services offered at Campost and at lower cost.
    It is this ground-level credibility of Campost that the present management headed by the Frenchman Herve Beril, is trying to redeem. But many say it will require much more than just organizing press conferences and open-door days. Observers say to win back its customers Campost must make enormous sacrifices including offering its services at costs that are irresistible to millions of Cameroonians. It is only in this way that the erstwhile loyal customers of Campost can be made to turn a blind eye to the past and re-embrace the company anew.