The fascinating history of the postal services in Botswana starts with the first attempts at establishment of such a service being inaugurated by Sir Charles Grey, governor of the Cape, as far back as 1860. The quality of mail service since then, more than a hundred years later, shows an improvement that is able to boast of speed, relaibility and diversity.

A view Khama Cresent of Poso House, headquarters of the Botswana Postal Services. Inset: Stamps from a set of eighteen depicting lesser mammals of Botswana, issued in 1992.

Around 1875 the London Misasionary Society established its own runner service north of Bulawayo, through Tatitown and Shoshong, linking with another private runner service operated by the Shoshong missionaries and Chief Khama; this in turn ran south to Dinokana (near modern-day Seerust), where it linked up with the postal service of the the Republic of South Africa.

By the mid-1880's the service was handling up to 8000 letters annually. After the protectorate had been declared, the first official service administered from Vryburg commenced in 1888, covering the area from Mafedking ( via Kanye and Molepolele) to Bulawayo. A year later, with the establishment of a mule cart service, the runners were laid off.

In 1895 administration of the postal service at Vryburg was passed to the protectorate government - stamps of Great Britain in 1897 were overprinted with the words "Bechuanaland Protectorate'. By 1931 there were 11 post offices, all on the rail line, and 12 agencies. A definitive issue of stamps, specially designed for the country in 1932, replaced the previous overprints of Great Britain which had been the only stamps in use up to that time.

A few years later the numnber of post offices had increased to include 22 general offices as well as agencies. further construction of post office buildings continued, with Tsabong being opened in 1941, followed by others in the Tuli Block and in remoter areas of the Central District.

At the beginning of 1957 the protectorate government took over the admsinistration of post offices throughout the country from the South African postmaster-general (although the latter remained responsible for accounting purposed for a further five years)/. By the time there were, apart from the post offices, 40 postal agencies, with weekly airmail being run between Lobatse and Ghanzi, a service which in 1964 was extended to Maun.

The Post Office Savings Bank was established in 1963, with postal and telecommunication services being separated in 1980. The postal services remained a government department until 1989, when it was transormed into a semi-autonomous parastatal.

The impressive new headquarters (Poso House) included a sorting office which assisted in easing flow of mail at the Central Post Office. A few years later a;postal museum preserving Botswana's postal heritage was opened to the public. A small but active philatelic bureau, catering for stamp collectors around the world, welcomes enquiries.

A postal courier service was introduced in 1990 in a further endeavour to meet customer demand for safe and speedy delivery.l With the motto of 'Bringing the service to the people'. conveniently placed pillar boxes and post box kiosks, as well as mobile post offices, have been put into use. At present there are 100 fully fledged post offices and nearly 70 agencies in Botswana. Since the beginning of 1993 surface mail to and from the Republic of South Africa is conveyed by road transportation, while mail arrives daily at the central sorting centre at Poso House through zeerust and the border gate at Tlokweng.

Establishment of a world wide organisation to deal with aviation problems took place immekdiately after World War II. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) came into being in April 1947 at a conference held in Chicago. Date of issue of these stamps is 30 June 1994 commemorating the 50th year of this special agency of the United Nations which fosters the planning and development of international air transport.

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