The Personal Computers that were delivered to schools countrywide as part of the Jubilee Government’s free laptop project are being sold in Uganda starting from Kshs. 4,087 which is around 150,000 UGX.
One of the sellers running an advertisement page on Facebook claimed to originate from Uganda.
According to Kenyans.co.ke some of the tablets discovered were sold by another trader for as low as Kshs. 3,773.
The price captured in the comments section had a buyer who introduced other customers to his supplier claiming that he had bargained for the listed price.
When contacted, the spokesperson of the government (Rtd) Cyrus Oguna said that the state was not involved in the illegal business.
“We are not aware of the matter as it has not been brought to our attention. I cannot comment on the issue,” said Oguna while assuring that the government would investigate the Facebook page.
It was not possible to contact the listed trader as both of their SIM Cards were unavailable.
In 2021, former Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary-General Wilson Sossion called the laptop project (The Digital Literacy Programme – DLP) a sham.
According to Wilson Sossion, the DLP was a flagship in the education sector that was used to steal billions of dollars from taxpayers.
The government has launched the DLP with the intention of integrating technology in all public primary schools starting with Class One.
The Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) was allocated Kshs. 53.2 billion in the 2013/14 Budget was meant for the acquisition of more than 1,350,000 laptops that was intended for the project.
1,169,000 laptops were distributed to Kshs. 21,638 public primary schools across the country and around 91,000 teachers were trained on how the devices would be used in teaching and learning.
A 2019 report presented in Parliament revealed the extent to which the project had been unsuccessful.
According to the report, the project failed because teachers were not trained adequately on how the devices could be used.