The personal tablet promised by the Jubilee government’s digital literacy program to every Standard One pupil from each of the country’s public schools has made their way into the Ugandan market.

The revelations were made by a Kenyan who shared a Facebook page of a seller advertising the Sh4,000 tablets (UGX 150,000). The seller running the Facebook advertisement page claimed that he was based in Kampala, Uganda. 

Uzalendo News has also learned that the tablets are being sold for as little as Sh3,700 by another trader. This price was set by one buyer who was introducing his supplier to other customers.

This price was captured in the comment section where a buyer was introducing other customers to his supplier, arguing that he bargained for the price listed. 

When contacted, the Government Spokesperson Col (Rtd) Cyrus Oguna remarked that the State was not privy to 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 will launch an investigation after assessing the page. 

In 2014, the government launched the digital literacy program, promising that 1.2 million learner digital devices would be distributed to Kenya’s 23,951 public primary schools.

After the ICT Authority launched the salvaged procurement in 2015, the government announced that a total of Sh17 billion would be spent to purchase 1.2 million laptops for Standard One pupils.

Due to cost considerations, the policy shifted from laptops to tablets during the rollout of the digital literacy program in May 2016.

In 2019, the government suspended the distribution of tablets to first-grade pupils, instead opting to build computer labs in 25,000 public primary schools across the country. However, at the time, not all primary school pupils had received the tablets.

According to the delivery schedules, 600,000 devices were to be delivered by the end of June 2016, with the remaining 600,000 delivered a year later in 2017.

Hundreds of branded tablets were stolen from four schools in Bungoma County in 2016.

In 2021, 71 of the stolen tablets were discovered in Uganda.

According to police, the devices were recovered after a Ugandan suspect on a motorcycle carrying them was apprehended at an unofficial border crossing.

Following their recovery, Ugandan police notified their Kenyan counterparts in Bungoma, who went to the Lwakhakha police station in Uganda and identified the branded laptops.

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