Still waiting for Madaraka PC

So much has been said about the Madaraka PC, yet no one has seen it. It has been hailed as the solution to imported junk in the name of refurbished computers. But where is it?

In Kenya’s history, Madaraka is synonymous with independence. Madaraka day is the day Kenya got self independence. In a way, the people who coined the name Madaraka PC had the idea that this PC would liberate many of us who still hold the dream of owning computers.

But that dream is slowly becoming distant because the PC is no where near completion. No word about it yet. The project was given to Jomo Kenyatta University of Technology and the Kenya College of Communication.

Madaraka PC was a good idea but what bothers me is the fact that the government introduced 25 per cent tax on used computers, using the Madaraka PC excuse to block rural communities from benefiting from used computers.

It may have been a good move, a deterrent for those dumping unusable computers, but where is the alternative? The Madaraka PC is nowhere in the market, yet so much reference has been made in regard to supporting local innovation.

The ministry has argued that new computers have become cheap with the imports from China and the Middle East, but the cost of maintenance has also risen. Some of the computers hawked as new are not even new!

The tax favors the corporate sector, which can afford the costs associated with new computers and ignores the rural communities that at times rely on donations to access technology.

I am not plugging importers of refurbished PCs, but at least the government should have ensured the Madaraka PC is in the market before imposing the tax. The move was erroneous, though such decisions have been made in the past.

So, can someone show us the much hyped Madaraka PC?