PRESS RELEASE MOFEP STATES POSITION ON ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP) has taken notice of the recent media controversy emanating from the One Laptop per child Project (OLPC) and especially the recent publications on the arrival of 1000 laptops and the issues of who paid for them.
The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor wishes to explain that, per the 17th April, 2009 letter quoted by the media, he authorized payment for just the clearing and storage of the computers at the time they arrived and not the purchase of the computers as is being alleged.
The GHc23,239.12 figure published by the media was the cost of the clearing and storage of the 1000 laptops and not the actual payment for the 10000, which cost US$2,050,000.00 (Two million and fifty thousand dollars).
MOFEP wishes to put on record that although Letters of Credit for the payment of the 10,000 laptops were established, nothing has so far been paid. The OLPC shipped the initial 1,000 laptops out of the total 10,000 to the Ministry of Education as a gesture of goodwill.
MOFEP will be working together with the Ministry of Education to pay the OLPC the cost of the 1,000 laptops which have already been cleared and are in the custody of the Ministry of Education. The Ministry will withhold payment for the remaining 9000 pending a proposed review of the transaction.
When the OLPC programme was conceived and discussed by stakeholders in 2007, a joint memorandum was submitted to Cabinet by the Ministers of Education, Science and Sports (MOESS), and Finance and Economic Planning in 2007.
On Thursday, 19th April, 2007 Cabinet endorsed the proposals and requested the Ministers of Finance and Economic Planning and Education, Science and Sports to initiate preparatory work through consultations with One Laptop per Child to enable Ghana to join the OLPC programme.
The One Laptop per Child (OLPC) programme became one of the policy initiatives contained in the 2007 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana which indicates the usage of computers in schools.
Subsequently, Parliament approved the programme and allocated GH¢3m as seed money for this programme under the 2008 HIPC budgetary allocation for the Ministries of Communication, Education and MOFEP.
MOFEP and MOESS, at a meeting jointly agreed to request three companies to pilot their laptops in two to five primary schools, for at least 6 months, to ascertain their robustness, user-friendliness, and durability. OLPC, a non-governmental and non-profit making organization, set up primarily to manufacture laptops for primary schools responded to the request. It provided equipment and funded two pilot sites – one deprived urban, one rural.
On 8th September 2008, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports wrote to the Chief Executive of Public Procurement Authority to request for single source to purchase 10,000 laptops at a unit cost of US$195.00 from One Laptop per Child.
The Chief Executive in his letter no. PPA/CEO/1349/08 dated 18th September 2008 wrote to grant approval for the sole source of the 10,000 laptops from One Laptop per Child at a cost of US$195.00 which happened to be a wrong quote for the laptops.
On 23rd October 2008, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports wrote again a letter. No. MOESS/OLPC/2008 to the Chief Executive for the revision of the unit cost from US$195 to US$ 205 which was concurrently approved by the Public Procurement Authority letter no. PPA/CEO/1574/08 dated 29th October 2008.
On 31st October 2008 the Ministry signed its portion of the contract and sent it to OLPC in USA.
On 19th November 2008, OLPC also signed its portion of the contract for the provision of the 10,000 laptops.
The Ministry of Education as a result wrote to Minister of Finance and Economic Planning to approve the release of funds to pay for the laptops in letter no. MOESS/OPLC/01/08 dated on 3rd December 2008.
In line with its statutory duties, MOFEP authorized the Bank of Ghana through the Controller and Accountant General to establish letters of credit based on the agreement signed between the Ministry of Education and the OLPC project.
We wish to reiterate that no payments have been made for the Laptops.
Abdul Hakim Ahmed
Media Liaison
FOR: MINISTER
THE NEWS EDITOR
