Microsoft says it is ready and experienced enough to help kick off Kenya’s student laptop project, even though the process of the selection of the company remains shrouded in mystery.

Last week, Telecommunications Service Providers Association of Kenya (Tespok), an industry’s lobby group, queried the manner in which Microsoft was chosen single handedly by the government to help provide 1.35 million laptops to Kenyan children. The initiative forms part of Kenya’s ‘one laptop one child programme ‘.

Tespok’s concern included that such a deal could lock out local innovators to come up with solutions and have a stake in the programme.

The project, proposed by the new Kenyan government voted into power this year, has also been lashed by critics for being too expensive. After the reading of Kenya’s annual budget, it was revealed that over Kshs 50 billion has been set aside for the project over the next four years.

In response to Tespok’s concerns, Microsoft has said it works according to standards of transparency, integrity and openness. Values, it said, that are shared by both the Kenyan government and Microsoft.

The company has also said that the specifics of the projects have not been set upon but that they are subject to further discussions with the project owners.

“Microsoft actively supports and grows ICT industries and economies across Africa. Our partner network which numbers just over 10,000 across Africa, highlights our commitment to healthy competition,” Louis Otieno, legal and corporate affairs director for Microsoft Africa Initiatives, told ITWeb Africa.

Otieno added, “Microsoft and the ministry of education are thus both aptly positioned, as strategic partners to government, from both an advisory and implementation perspective. With government’s prior experience on public private partnerships globally, it is evident that such partnerships are key towards the successful delivery and sustenance of development projects.”