Bawumia’s Dubious ‘One Teacher, One Laptop’ Contract Attracts Law Suit

The dubious sole-sourcing contract for the so-called ‘one teacher, one laptop’ initiative of Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has attracted a lawsuit from some teachers who insist they will not be used as a cash cow by the Akufo Addo government.

Two teacher unions, Innovative Teachers, and All Teachers Alliance Ghana (ATAG), have jointly sued the Ghana Education Service (GES), the Attorney-General, and the Education Ministry over a move to award the supply contract on the initiative to the K.A Technologies Ghana Limited.

The unions are demanding that the sole-sourced contract awarded to K. A Technologies, a company said to have been hurriedly packaged by corrupt politicians for the sole purpose of awarding it the contract, be annulled.

They state the grounds of their demand for the annulment of the contract is contrary to sections 40 a, b, c, d, and e of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663).

In the case the KA Technologies is 1st Defendant, GES is 2nd Defendant, AG, 3rd Defendant, while Education Ministry is 4th Defendant. 

Plaintiff also pointed out that “ the 4th Defendant has failed to publish the details of the contract on the website of the Public Procurement Authority, contrary to section 3 c(1 and 2) of the Public Procurement Act in an attempt to hide the transaction from public scrutiny.”

The two unions accuse the government of creating K.A. Technologies just for the purpose of using it to distribute the laptops to teachers.

Plaintiffs are asking for reliefs including “an order for Interlocutory Injunction restraining the defendants, their agents, successors. Assigns, servicemen, workmen and all persons claiming through them, from awarding or entering into a contract of selling or distributing laptops computers and/or in any way dealing with or interfering with any contract of selling or distributing laptop computers under the one teacher one laptop computer programme pending the final determination of this suit in terms of the accompanying affidavit.”

And also, that any amount paid to the 1st Defendant by the government for manufacturing and distribution of laptops should be refunded.

Vice President Bawumia’s controversial ‘one teacher, one laptop,’ initiative was ostensibly launched to furnish teachers with supposed free laptops even though according to the arrangement, the teachers are to pay 30% of the cost of the laptops.

However, the teacher unions had protested that the prices of the sub-standard laptops were way higher and that they could get better laptops on the open market if they are to fork out the amount as their contribution to the government laptop scheme.