Senegal’s parliamentary opposition is intensifying its scrutiny of the country’s flagship student laptop initiative, Un Étudiant, Un Ordinateur, with a parliamentary commission set to examine alleged financial irregularities totaling 2 billion FCFA.

Parliamentary inquiry targets decade-long education sector mismanagement

Leader of the opposition Pastef-Les Patriotes parliamentary group, Ousmane Sonko, has spearheaded efforts to establish a parliamentary commission investigating alleged financial misconduct in the Un Étudiant, Un Ordinateur program. The initiative, launched in 2017 with an annual budget of approximately 6 billion FCFA, has come under scrutiny for potential legal violations and financial improprieties.

The commission will examine whether ministry officials violated procurement regulations by:

• Failing to conduct competitive bidding for contracts exceeding 50 million FCFA
• Bypassing mandatory pre-market controls through the Direction centrale des marchés publics (Dcmp)
• Operating outside the ministry’s official procurement plan
• Circumventing required financial minister approvals for contracts above 300 million FCFA

Financial irregularities and unaccounted funds raise serious concerns

Investigators have identified several red flags, including:

• A 2 billion FCFA guarantee fund deposited with Ecobank without clear documentation of its origin, management, or purpose
• 13 bank accounts linked to the program, despite official records showing only 3
• Unverified disbursement of 864.8 million FCFA across these accounts
• 800 unused computers stored at Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD), purchased with public funds but never distributed to students

The investigation has also uncovered evidence suggesting the state may have been double-billed to the tune of 1.25 billion FCFA for contracts executed outside legal frameworks. In 2023 alone, 1.446 billion FCFA was allegedly transferred to a non-contracting intermediary company for 7,055 computers, with no verifiable agreement between the Higher Education ministry and the vendor.

Multiple officials and institutions under scrutiny

The commission will probe officials from:

• Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation
• Ministry of Finance and Budget
• Direction générale de l’Enseignement supérieur
• Direction du financement des établissements d’enseignement supérieur (Dfees)
• Direction centrale des marchés publics (Dcmp)
• Autorité de régulation de la commande publique (Arcop)
• All public and parapublic entities involved since 2017

These alleged irregularities, spanning nearly a decade of program implementation, have prompted calls for comprehensive accountability measures to address potential economic and social repercussions for Senegal.