Jubilee School Tablets Cheaply Sold in Uganda Market
Personal computers delivered to schools across the country as part of the Jubilee government’s free laptop project are on the market in Uganda, with prices starting at Ksh4,087 (150,000 UGX).
The seller, who ran a Facebook advertisement page, claimed to be from Kampala, Uganda.
Kenyans.co.ke discovered that some of the tablets were being sold by another trader for as little as Ksh3,773.
This price was captured in a comment section where a buyer was introducing other customers to his supplier, claiming that he had bargained for the listed price.
When contacted, Government Spokesperson Colonel (Rtd) Cyrus Oguna stated that the state was not involved in the illegal trade.
“We are not aware of the matter as it has not been brought to our attention.”
“I, therefore, cannot comment on the issue,” Oguna responded but assured that the government would launch an investigation after assessing the page.
Attempts to contact the trader listed in the advertisement were unsuccessful, as both SIM cards were unavailable.
Wilson Sossion, former Secretary-General of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), called the laptop project (The Digital Literacy Programme-DLP) a sham in 2021.
According to Sossion, the flagship project in the education sector was used to steal billions of dollars from taxpayers.
The government launched DLP with the goal of integrating technology into all public primary schools beginning with Class One.
In the 2013/2014 budget, the Ministry of Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT) was allocated Ksh53.2 billion for the acquisition of over 1,350,000 laptops for the project.
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Approximately 1,169,000 devices were distributed to 21,638 public primary schools across the country, and approximately 91,000 teachers were trained on how to use the new technology for teaching and learning.
A report presented in Parliament in 2019 revealed, however, the extent to which the project failed.
According to the Ministry of Education’s report, the program failed because teachers were not adequately trained.
Jubilee School Tablets Cheaply Sold in Uganda Market
