Sandafayre Stamp Auctions | Stamp Atlas | Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika

Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika

FIRST STAMPS with joint inscription 1 May 1935.

CURRENCY
1935, 100 cents = 1 shilling.

The East African Posts and Telecommunications Union formed on 1 July 1933 was confirmed as a commitment of the East African High Commission (1948). Postal HQ was placed at Nairobi. Joint operation did not necessarily imply adoption of rigid policy for all three countries.Whereas in Tanganyika German precedent was followed by the operation of TPOs on both main railways until 1959 as well as on Lake Tanganyika, in Kenya TPOs on the Uganda Railway which had ceased in 1924 were never resumed. Uganda had TPOs only on a few lake and river steamers. Runners have never been entirely superseded by motorized posts, as witness Kenyan successes in the Olympic Games.

The order of the inscription varies from design to design in order to give the three countries equal prominence.

Stamps overprinted OFFICIAL in 1959 were issued initially (July-October) in only nine main offices of Tanganyika (although later under pressure validated for general use).

East Africa
After the successive independence of Tanganyika, Uganda and Kenya, the East Africa Common Service Organization (later Community) continued policy of the High Commission, issuing commemorative stamps for use in the three territories until it became a dead letter in 1976.

Stamps were inscribed KENYA UGANDA TANGANYIKA ZANZIBAR (issue of 21 October 1964 only) or KENYA UGANDA TANZANIA. (Despite the federation of Tanganyika and Zanzibar under one flag, these stamps were not valid in Zanzibar until 1 January 1968).

N.B. Until 1976 the independent issues of each of the three constituent republics (see below) were valid in the other two, although placed on sale there only for the first two weeks to show validity.

Kenya, Uganda & Tanganyika 1935
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