The propriety of the government’s “free tablets” for pre-tertiary students in the midst of an ailing economy in dumsor (darkness)

Dear Editor,

President Nana Akufu Addo told Ghanaians that his government is embarking on the distribution of “free tablets” to about 1.3 million pre-tertiary students in public schools comprising SHS and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) students across the country. President Nana Akufu, at the launch of the so-called “Smart School Project” on March 25, 2024, announced his government’s decision to distribute 1.3 million tablets. The Akufo Addo-Bawumia government’s desperation to purchase 1.3 tablets for free distribution to pre-tertiary students at a whooping cost of over 300 million dollars at the expense of the overburdened Ghanaian taxpayer, has kept many rational citizens wondering about the government’s motivation for such a misplaced priority at this time. In principle, the concept or policy is not a bad one; however, many unanswered questions cast a lot of doubt on the propriety of this decision by the government. However, given that, a similar project in which the incapable driver-mate Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia launched the “One Teacher, One Laptop” initiative in September 2021, which to date is fraught with many problems with many teachers who paid 30% of the cost of the said laptops say that the laptops were inferior quality while some have not even received their laptops after paying the 30%. The same so-called local ICT firm, KA Technologies Ghana Limited, the company behind the distribution of laptops to teachers in the country fiasco, is believed to be the company that is expected to deliver the 1.3 million tablets. The question that arises is, if the same company failed to deliver 350,000 laptops to teachers across the country, what is the guarantee that the same company can do a better job this time around with even more numbers to supply? It will be recalled that many teacher groups, including the All Teachers Alliance Ghana (ATAG), protested against the initiative of subsidized laptops for teachers in the name of “one teacher, one laptop,” yet the belligerent government went ahead with the distribution. What is even more surprising is the NPP’s government’s position on this matter. We recall how the same NPP, while in opposition, vehemently fought against the distribution of free rLG laptops to students across all levels of our education system. The NPP then called the policy all kinds of names and tagged the Mahama government as engaging in corruption at the time. Today, the same party in government is embarking on a similar initiative at a time when the economy is in severe crisis. What has changed?

What is even more worrying about this initiative is that the Akufu Addo-Bawumia’s government has mismanaged the economy to the extent that Ghana can no longer meet its debt-servicing obligations and has to go on begging spree to pause serving our loan repayment obligations. The economy, which has been ranked as JUNK, is running on IMF and World Bank’s stimuli steroids. Just recently, the news reports said that Ghana received a $300 tranche of IMF bailout. Many questions arise regarding this unwholesome transaction by the government of Ghana in the name of boosting STEM education. Some of the questions that arise include: 1). Why should the government spend this colossal amount of money on tablets for pre-tertiary students now when many basic educational needs such as textbooks are not even available at the JHS and primary school levels after the change of curriculum? 2). Is it the argument by the government that STEM education can only be boosted at the pre-tertiary education level in the country while the primary level is completely neglected? 3). Isn’t this tablet policy similar to the free SHS propaganda the current government embarked upon in 2016 with the sole purpose of winning the votes of those in the SHS? 4). Why should a government that is struggling to keep the economy afloat by going around begging its creditors find it prudent to embark on such an expensive project at this time? What’s the urgency in providing such “free tablets “ now when the same government is unable to ensure a reliable and stable power supply to most parts of the country (dumsor)? This means that these tablets will even become white elephants in the hands of the beneficiaries if there’s no electricity to charge them once they run out of power. 5) Is the provision of 1.3 million tablets to pre-tertiary students the most pressing issue in our education sector in the country today? 6). Isn’t this government using this deal as a conduit to once again siphon money from the collapsed economy, as has been the case in the past seven years? And 7). Is the government not once again attempting to hoodwink pre-tertiary students to vote for the NPP just as it used the “free SHS” propaganda in the 2016 generations elections? Well, this government, led by the reckless and incompetent ‘driver Banza’ Akufo Addo and his clueless driver mate Alhaji Bawumia, cannot be trusted with their words on anything anymore. They have proven to be untrustworthy drivers who neither know their destination nor know the route to their destination.

Ghanaians must demand an immediate halt to the initiative pending due diligence to ensure value for money and ensure that the taxpayer is not once again short-changed. The people who promised to protect the public purse while in opposition have been supervising the looting of the same purse on a daily basis since January 2017. It is time to show this government a red card to salvage the country for the benefit of present and future generations unborn. Blessed week.

Ing. Dr Baba Musah
Research Fellow
[email protected]