Jakarta \u2014 Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and\nTechnology Nadiem Anwar Makarim denied allegations of involvement in a\nconspiracy in the matter of alleged corruption in the procurement of\nChromebook devices.<\/p>\n
This was conveyed by Nadiem whilst appearing as a key witness in\nproceedings at court on Tuesday, 10 March 2026. During the hearing,\nNadiem asserted that he had never held secret meetings or engaged in any\nconspiracy relating to the educational device procurement project.<\/p>\n
According to him, the indictment suggesting the existence of a\nconspiracy as referred to in Article 55 of the Criminal Code was not\nsupported by clear evidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is absolutely nothing. There were no secret meetings during\nCOVID to carry out this conspiracy. So if it is said that there was a\ncabal, where is the evidence? I myself am confused,\u201d Nadiem stated\nduring the hearing.<\/p>\n
Nadiem explained that during his tenure as minister, his policy focus\nwas to promote digital transformation in the education ecosystem through\nthe strengthening of software, rather than on the procurement of\nhardware.<\/p>\n
He also asserted that the procurement process, including the\ndetermination of the operating system specifications of devices, was not\ndecided at the ministerial level. According to him, that authority lay\nwith the Budget Authority User (KPA) and technical officials at the\ndirectorate general level.<\/p>\n
In his testimony, Nadiem also explained the establishment of a\ntechnology team at the ministry, which he said was aimed at accelerating\ndigital transformation in education, in line with the President\u2019s\ndirective in 2020.<\/p>\n
He mentioned a number of technology professionals who were recruited\nwho joined with a spirit of public service. In fact, Nadiem said, some\nof them were willing to accept salary reductions of almost half their\nprevious income in order to work for the government.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to demonstrate that these young people joined to serve the\nnation. The evidence is that they were willing to sacrifice almost half\ntheir salary to help our country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
During the hearing, Nadiem also provided clarification on three\npoints of WhatsApp conversations that were included as part of the\nprosecutor\u2019s indictment.<\/p>\n
The statement \u201cremove humans and replace with software,\u201d according to\nhim, referred to efforts to automate administrative processes that were\npreviously manual in order to be more efficient. He gave examples of the\nimplementation of digital systems in the ARKAS and MARKAS\napplications.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the phrase \u201cfind internal change agents and empower them\u201d\nwas described as an effort to identify employees of integrity within the\nministry to be given responsibility in the change project.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/nadiem-makarim-denies-conspiracy-allegations-in-chromebook-procurement-case-hearing-1773305708", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }