Jubilee's Standard One laptops projects faces setback

By AUGUSTINE ODUOR

The laptops for Standard One project has faced its first obstacle, with bidders asking for far more than the government had budgeted for.

The government has consequently declined to dig deeper into its pockets but has vowed it will still pursue its dream of providing computers for children.

Education Cabinet secretary Prof Jacob Kaimenyi, however, said the programme implementation would proceed with a fresh tender advertisement scheduled for next week.

“We are advertising afresh next week and the implementation of the project is still on course. We shall still implement it at once, not in phases,” he said.

The Cabinet Secretary said the ministry tender committee resolved to cancel the tenders for the only three firms that met the “technical specifications” to supply the computers  after the lowest bidder quoted Sh32 billion.

He also said this was done in compliance with the provisions of the Public Procurement and Disposal Act, 2005.

The ministry advertised an international tender in August for procurement of 1.3 million laptops for pupils, 20,367 projectors and 20,367 printers for the schools at a total cost of Sh12 billion.

Prof Kaimenyi said the quoted prices by the three qualified bidders for laptops supply was Sh20 billion more than the anticipated budget, prompting cancellation of the tender. He, however, declined to reveal whether the three firms were local or internationally sourced.

He said with the quoted prices, the three firms put the cost of each laptop at between Sh23,000 and Sh28,000.

Collusion

A past meeting chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta heard that the cost of each laptop had been put at ($100) Sh8,500.

“While the cost of the project was initially expected to be Sh5 billion in the first phase, it has now come down to $100 (Sh8,500) per computer,” the statement from State House after the past meeting indicated.

The cabinet secretary said the tender committee does not rule out collusion between the bidders to inflate the prices of the laptops.

“Everyone would like to make money but we must stick to our budget,” he said.

The other factor Kaimenyi said could have led to the rise in prices was the implementation of the Value Added Tax law. He said at the time of budgeting, costs such as storage and insurance were not considered.

The Standard has established that the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) issued specifications that would enable laptops take up digitised content for Standard One to Three.

The digitised content would be pre-loaded on the laptops. This is different from Rwanda’s One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project that uses server and WiFi. “Our country is wide and  some places may not have Internet to use servers. What we need are laptops with good storage space and speed,” said a senior ministry official privy to the details.

“The specifications by KICD had not been factored in. When all these were loaded, the prices may have shot up,” he said. Of the 126 companies that bought the bid documents, only 20 returned the tender bids.

“After evaluation of those who returned the bids, only three met the technical specifications,” said Prof Kaimenyi.