Ousmane Sonko's Pastef group launches parliamentary inquiry into "One Student, One Computer" program irregularities

The program has an accumulated commitment of approximately 48 billion CFA francs, with an annual base of about 6 billion CFA francs. The inquiry, proposed by Sonko and his allies, aims to investigate potential breaches and violations that may have severe economic and social consequences for the country. The investigation highlights several alleged issues, including the absence of calls for tenders for amounts exceeding 50 million FCfa, in violation of Article 53 of the Public Procurement Code.

It also points to the lack of prior control by the Central Public Procurement Directorate Dcmp and the program's omission from the ministry's procurement plan, contravening Articles 142 and 6 of the Public Procurement Code, respectively. Furthermore, contracts reportedly lacked approval from the Minister of Finance, a requirement for contracts valued at 300 million FCfa or more, as per Article 29 of the Public Procurement Code. The inquiry also focuses on a 2 billion FCfa guarantee fund held at Ecobank, whose origin, management, and use are unclear.

There are also reports of 13 bank accounts and sub-accounts linked to the program, despite official records mentioning only three. An undocumented balance of 864,857,800