Alebtong district receives an additional Shs 3.4bln for PDM
ALEBTONG March 16, 2025 — Alebtong district has received another Sh3.4 billion under the Parish Development Model [PDM], bringing the total funds received by the district to Sh16.4 billion since the government programme was launched in February 2022 to help the active poor Ugandans fight household poverty.
This was disclosed recently by Mathias Lutwama, the Deputy Resident District Commissioner, who called on the technical team responsible for the programme to maintain transparency in the enrollment of the targeted beneficiaries.
Speaking to residents of Abako and Amugu Town Council during the launch of Ebong Bridge a few days ago, Lutwama stated that Shs 3.4bln was release this quarter of the current financial year, and will be shared by the 69 parishes in the district.
He urged the responsible officials to to ensure the funds reach those who need them.
Government Chief Whip, Denis Hamson Obua, who launched the construction of the Ebong Bridge, which links Abako Subcounty to Amugu Town Council, said, “The funds must be distributed transparently.”
The PDM is a government initiative aimed at transitioning 39% of Uganda’s population from subsistence to money economy. Launched by President Yoweri Museveni, the programme is being implemented in 10,594 parishes nationwide, each receiving Shs100 million every financial year, although government has pledged to increase the funds to Shs 200mln per parish in the future.
Under the PDM, beneficiaries receive a soft loan of Shs 1 mln to invest in incoming generating activities like piggery, poultry, beekeeping, fish farming, coffee growing, banana and fruit growing among others.
Obua praised Museveni for initiating wealth creation programmes such as Operation Wealth Creation [OWC], PDM, Emyooga, the Youth Livelihood Programme [YLP], and the Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme [UWEP], among others, he he said are changing people’s lives.
He also commended the Ugandan Parliament for allocating Shs 1 billion for road maintenance in each district. Prior to this, he said, districts like Alebtong received only Shs 200mln annually, which was later reduced to Shs119 million, making it difficult to maintain the roads in the district.
“The funding was insufficient and couldn’t deliver any substantial results, but President Museveni intervened and announced that starting in the financial year 2024/2025, each district, municipality, and city will receive Shs 1 billion for road maintenance ,” he said.
He added that without this increased allocation for road maintenance, the construction of the Ebong Bridge would not have been possible.
On his part, the Alebtong district LC5 Chairperson, David Kennedy Odongo disclosed that the district had identified two more bridges [Agugu and Ongura], which were damaged by heavy rains and are set to be repaired this financial year.
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