Nadiem Denies Removing Ministry Officials Over Opposition to Chromebook Procurement
Jakarta, Kompas.com — Former Education, Culture and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim has denied ever removing ministry officials because they opposed the procurement of Chromebook-based laptops, specifically Khamim, former Director of Primary Education in the Directorate General of PAUD and Primary and Secondary Education, and Poppy Dewi Puspitawati, former Director of Secondary Education in the Directorate General of PAUD and Primary and Secondary Education.
Nadiem clarified this during testimony as a witness in the continued hearing of a suspected corruption case involving the procurement of Chromebook-based laptops for three defendants.
“The decision to replace 17 positions, including Poppy and Khamim, is proven to have occurred on 4 March (2020),” Nadiem stated during the hearing at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Tuesday (10 March 2026).
Nadiem argued that the plan to replace these officials occurred well before Khamim and Poppy expressed their objections to the Chromebook procurement. The replacement plan for both officials was implemented long before the procurement discussion meeting commenced.
According to the prosecution’s indictment, Poppy and Khamim were replaced on 2 June 2020.
“One of the reasons defendant Nadiem Anwar Makarim replaced Echelon 2 officials, including Poppy Dewi Puspitawati, was because of differing opinions regarding the results of a technical study that did not align with defendant Nadiem Anwar Makarim’s direction, and (Poppy) did not agree if the procurement referred to a specific product,” the prosecutor stated whilst reading the indictment on 16 December 2025.
Meanwhile, Khamim was replaced by Sri Wahyuningsih. Subsequently, Sri and Mulyatsyah became involved in ensuring that the ICT equipment procurement was won by Google’s Chromebook product.
In this case, former Education Minister Nadiem Makarim, along with three other defendants, is alleged to have caused state financial losses worth Rp 2.1 trillion. Nadiem is accused of self-enrichment totalling Rp 809 billion.
Nadiem is alleged to have abused his authority, making Google the sole controller of ICT procurement, including laptops, in Indonesia’s technology ecosystem. This was done by directing the procurement study towards one product: Chrome-based devices, which are Google products.
Nadiem allegedly committed this act together with three other defendants: former Technology Consultant in the Ministry of Education, Culture and Technology, Ibrahim Arief; Director of Secondary Education in the Ministry of Education in 2020–2021 and Budget User Authority (KPA), Mulyatsyah; and Director of Primary Education in the Ministry of Education in 2020–2021 and Budget User Authority (KPA), Sri Wahyuningsih.
For their actions, Nadiem and the other defendants face charges under Article 2 Paragraph (1) and Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 as amended and supplemented by Law Number 20 of 2001 concerning Amendments to Law Number 31 of 1999 on the Eradication of Corruption Offences in conjunction with Article 55 Paragraph (1) of the Indonesian Criminal Code.