Debate centers on whether to ban imports of used PCs By Rebecca Wanjiku.Computerworld Kenya NAIROBI, KENYA - East African countries are at a crossroads on the promotion of used computers in remote areas and the issue of deterring the dumping of electronic waste. Uganda has placed a total ban on imports of refurbished computers while Kenya has imposed a 25 percent tax on refurbished computers. Rwanda and Tanzania are still accepting refurbished computers for rural communities and schools. The ban on used computers in Uganda has been criticized by organizations working with rural communities, which mostly earn less than a dollar a day and are not likely to afford a new PC. "The worst-affected people will be the poor people and rural-based [people] who make up a big percentage of computer users in Uganda. These are people who cannot afford a brand-new computer. With this ban, it means that these people will not be able to access ICT at all," said Stone Atwine, managing director of BlissOne Media in Uganda. In Uganda, a brand-new computer costs about 1 million Uganda shillings (US$470), while a good refurbished PC that can handle the needs of people in the communities goes for about 250,000 shillings ($119). "People will resort to expensive clones at about UGX600,000 ($285), whose lifespan is typically 7 months," added Atwine in an e-mail interview. "What will happen here is rural people will be left behind by ICT trends and therefore development; used computers have helped so much in accelerating IT skills and people's lives in Uganda." In Kenya, Computer Aid International was forced to pay duty for 42 laptops and PCs donated to public hospitals, community agricultural projects and schools. "It is not right that doctors, nurses, teachers and students cannot access computers because the duty is prohibitive," said Gladys Muhunyo, assistant director for Africa programmes, Computer Aid International. At the heart of the decision to ban and impose duty is the desire by the Ugandan and Kenyan governments to ban dumping of electronic waste from the West to Africa. "All equipment received by Computer Aid is subject to extensive and rigorous testing in our own workshop to ensure that we deliver to recipients only high-quality equipment, which can then provide a minimum of three years' productive use," said Muhunyo, at a function organized by the British High Commission in Kenya to raise awareness on electronic waste. To address the problems of computer dumping and limited access, Muhunyo and Atwine say that governments need to develop strict guidelines for testing imported refurbished PCs to ensure that they can serve a community for at least three years, and that there needs to be established electronic waste disposal projects. "The problem of electronic waste is real. You can go to a school and find a lab with 40 computers that are obsolete. We don't want to be used as a dumping ground although we need these machines," said Atwine. "Machines should be tested for functionality before they are allowed into the country; people should not be denied the advantages of technology on the basis of e-waste dumping." While donating PCs, scanners, photocopiers and printers to Computer Aid International, the deputy British High Commission to Kenya, Louise De Souza, underscored the need for proper electronic waste management. "Computer Aid offers the British and Commonwealth office a chance to contribute to community ICT development as well as environmentally friendly ways to dispose the equipment because they track and recall computers once they get to the end of life," said De Souza.