Webmail
Sign in to mail.govconnect.ke and use the native three-pane inbox for hosted government mailboxes.
Webmail is Taifa Mail's browser-based mail client at mail.govconnect.ke. It is separate from the institution dashboard at govconnect.ke: officers sign in with a mailbox address and app password, not their Google/GitHub OAuth account.
Webmail uses a dedicated mailbox session (mailbox_access token). It cannot access org admin screens, and a dashboard login cannot read mail without opening webmail or using IMAP.
Signing in
- Open mail.govconnect.ke (or Open webmail from Mailboxes in the dashboard).
- Enter the full mailbox address, for example
info@health.go.ke. - Enter the app password minted when the mailbox was created or from the mailbox detail page.
ICT administrators provision mailboxes under Mailboxes in the dashboard; officers only see mailboxes assigned to them.
The three-pane inbox
| Pane | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Folders (left) | INBOX, Sent, Drafts, Junk, Trash, Archive, and labels (a separate Scheduled panel lists queued sends) |
| Message list (centre) | Threads with search, unread counts, and live updates |
| Reader (right) | Full message, attachments, reply / forward / move actions |
On mobile, panes stack and you navigate between folder list, messages, and the open thread.
Composing and replying
Click Compose or use Reply, Reply all, or Forward on an open message. The composer supports:
- To, Cc, and Bcc
- Subject (shown in the modal header when set)
- Plain-text body with optional attachments
- Your default signature, inserted automatically into a fresh message
- Schedule send for a future time
Your default header and footer blocks (and any the institution enforces) wrap the message automatically when it is sent, so you do not add them by hand. Scheduled messages appear under Scheduled in the folder rail until they send or you cancel them.
Folders, labels, and search
- Move messages between folders (archive, trash, junk).
- Flag messages for follow-up.
- Labels add coloured keywords; filter the list by label from the rail.
- Search matches subject, sender, and body text across the current folder.
Read state syncs with IMAP clients connected to the same mailbox.
Mailbox settings
Open Settings inside webmail (at mail.govconnect.ke/settings) to manage:
- Profile photo and display name
- Forwarding for this mailbox address
- Signatures & templates (see below)
- Off-hours auto-reply (a vacation or out-of-hours responder)
- Filters / rules for sorting incoming mail
- App passwords for webmail and mail clients
- Mail client setup (IMAP/SMTP host, ports)
- Storage usage for this mailbox
Signatures & templates
Build your own reusable signatures, headers, and footers with the same visual builder used for institution branding: upload a logo (set its width and alignment), add a heading, contact rows, social buttons, links, and an unsubscribe line, or switch to raw HTML. Mark one of each type as your default to have it applied to outgoing mail automatically, and preview any block against a sample email as you edit. Your institution's standards appear here too, and any block an ICT administrator has enforced is applied to your mail and cannot be overridden. See Mail branding for how administrators set those standards.
Off-hours auto-reply
Set a subject and message that replies automatically when you are away, either always, only outside your working hours, or between two dates. Each sender receives it at most once a day.
See IMAP & POP mailboxes for Outlook, Apple Mail, and Thunderbird setup.
Live updates
Webmail receives real-time events over a WebSocket when new mail arrives, flags change, or messages move between folders: so the list updates without a full page reload.
Next steps
- Managing messages: folders, labels, and admin inbound log
- Mailboxes overview: how ICT provisions and assigns mailboxes
- IMAP & POP mailboxes: connect a desktop or mobile client