The Tonga Group
The Tonga Group is currently the second largest postal company in Uganda, favoured by those sending parcels.
History
Founded by American John Tonga in 1956, the company joined a consortium of postal services in 1961, following the new guidelines of company inceptions. Any small company whose role was already taken would be stripped of all titles, and charged extra tax. The consortium was supposed to be called the Postal Group, however, following the shock death of John Tonga, the company was named after him in his honour. In the recent years, the Tonga Group had been favoured by many companies, including charities such as the Red Cross, as a reliable courier, for sending life-saving drugs and food packages. Since then, it has been nominated for the Business of the Year Award by the Ugandan Trade Union in 1995.
Comparisons to Other Companies
The Tonga Group is comparatively cheap, charging substantially less than its major rival, the Ugandan Postal Group, which, in turn, is much cheaper than the independent companies in the country. As is usual, there is an approximate outline of the prices found at the website. Here is a shortened version of the information given:
TG |
UPG |
|
|---|---|---|
Small Parcel |
$1.50/lb |
$1.75/lb |
Large Parcel |
$1.20 |
$1.50 |
Letter |
$0.20 |
$0.40 |
Recent Controversy
Controversy has surrounded the company, after, in October 2006, the chairman Ugo Fertenoo was accused of syphoning funds from the company account. In a 2007 interview, Fortenoo said:
"The money missing from the accounts is the money taken from the recent tax raise. Nobody in my company suspect me, and I suspect nobody."