President Uhuru Kenyatta goes for tablets to cure laptop headache

President Uhuru Kenyatta has side-stepped court case that has bogged down laptops project by switching to tablets, which are more child-friendly.

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration has abandoned the Sh24.6 billion laptops project for schools, which hasn’t taken off in over two years because of a tender row, for the cheaper and more portable and classy tablets.

Impatient with the time lost in delivering one of Jubilee’s pre-election promises, Uhuru reportedly directed his officials to work out an alternative plan to distribute tablets to schools.

The Standard established the Government abandoned the laptops project that stalled after disgruntled suppliers moved to court. It will now give a tablet to each pupil enrolling in Standard One to fulfil the signature pre-election campaign pledge for which the Jubilee administration has received flak.

Multiple senior Government sources familiar with the development explained the President, increasingly becoming impatient with the court process, had tasked a core team to urgently explore the alternative way to roll out the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) programme for pupils.

Reports suggest the President wants the supply of the devices factored into the 2015-2016 financial year. Financial estimates for the 2015-2016 financial year were presented in Parliament Thursday.

A total of Sh17.58 billion has been set aside in the next financial year for the laptops project, and it is part of these funds that are expected to be used to buy the tablets.

"He has set up a team to explore all the possible options and report back to him in a week," revealed a source who declined to be named in discussing Government plans. The official said a series of meetings have been taking place at the Ministry of Education and at State House to craft a better way of delivering the devices.

"Uhuru is keen to see a solution that will give children access to ICT. It will no longer be a vendor-driven or procurement process because that will further delay the implementation of the big promise," said the Government officer.

Investigations by The Standard revealed that the laptops idea was long abandoned and an ICT firm based on Ngong Road in Nairobi identified to supply the tablets.

It is, however, not clear what the tablet specifications are or the dates for delivery as the idea is still a top Government secret.

On Thursday, Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi confirmed that the Government was reviewing alternative ways of delivering ICT solutions to primary school children.

Better alternative

"The information you have is correct but not quite. We are reviewing what we promised the children and it is, of course, dictated by circumstances," said Prof Kaimenyi.

In a clear endorsement of the devices that alludes to the Government's new plans, Kaimenyi argued tablets were the way to go.

"Looking at various factors including cost implications, tablets would be a better alternative," he said, adding that a good number of children already have exposure to tablets and this would make the implementation of the e-learning programme even easier.

"They are already using their parents' tablets or iPads. They are accessing these machines somehow," said the CS.

The Government had previously mulled over portability and storage of laptops in schools.

A well-placed source at the National Treasury familiar with the progress revealed the President was keen to integrate the ICT programme in the next financial year without fail.

"Money is not the issue right now. It is how this can be done well and fast, and relevant persons are under immense pressure to play their part," said the official.

This means that when schools open in January next year, the tablets will be in school ready for use.

The delicate procurement process denied pupils the much-awaited laptops after the Ministerial Tender Committee last year awarded the contract to Olive Telecommunications Pvt Limited.

Following the tender award, the procurement process was put on hold as the other bidders, namely Haier Electricals Appliances Corporation Limited and Hewlett-Packard Limited(HP) from Europe, appealed it at the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board.

The board nullified the contract, citing a flawed tendering process that included leaking of tender specifications and pricing to a select company by Government officials. The matter is still in court.

Uhuru is said to have been furious in one of the Cabinet meetings over the delayed implementation of the project.

"The President was not happy and senior ministry officials were tasked with ensuring the programme was rolled out and as we speak, they have a lot of pressure right now," said the source.

"State House has made up its mind and ways are being explored to implement the ICT project outside the court process," he added.

Early this week, a high-level meeting was convened at Jogoo House to deliberate over the implementation of the project. Senior Ministry of Education officials, representatives from the National Treasury and the ministries of Energy and Health attended the meeting.

Some 1.3 million children had been expected to benefit from the project.