The 10th of October 2012 will remain a historic day in the annals of the Universal Postal Union. It is the day when Amb. Bishar Hussein, Kenya's candidate for post of Director General (DG), was elected to head the International Bureau of the Union for the next Congress cycle 2013 - 2016.
Amb. Hussein who got 87 votes beat his only competitor Serrana Bassini of Uruguay by 15 votes. After the results were announced, the mood in the plenary hall was emotional as delegates dashed to where Amb. Hussein was seated to congratulate him.
The post of Deputy Director General (DDG) went to Pascal Clivaz of Switzerland who beat his only competitor from United States of America, Dennis Delehanty. The two gentlemen are fine men with solid credentials to match the positions. I can only wish them well as they drive the UPU to the next level in the next four years.
The journey of Amb. Hussein to the election as DG has not been a smooth ride. It was characterised by deceit and all manner of intrigues. However, all is well that ends well. So as not to spoil the happy ending, these details call for a separate blog post.
The UPU, a specialised agency of the United Nations held its Congress in Doha, Qatar from 24th September 2012 to end on 15th October 2012. Every four years, the Congress brings together plenipotentiaries from 192 member countries to develop plans to govern international postal business for the next four years.
The 25th UPU Congress hosted the first ever Ministerial conference on 8th October 2012. Ministers responsible for posts met to discuss postal matter. The panel discussions were interesting and it was evident that despite the downward trend in international mail volumes, the posts are here to stay for posterity.
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