KWANIA, August 23, 2024 – Rt. Rev. Julius Ceasar Nina Otim, the Bishop of the Diocese of West Lango has condemned some of the beneficiaries of the Parish Development Model [ PDM ] for not spending the money received on the projects for which it was requested.
Addressing the congregations during the Diocese of West Lango 10th Children’s Day Celebration held recently at the diocesan headquarters, Bishop Nina said many beneficiaries of PDM have diverted the money to pay school fees and procure mattresses contrary to the PDM guidelines.
“There is gross diversion of PDM funds following internal audit reports from various districts within Lango. People are using the money to buy mattresses and pay school fees but I want to encourage you to invest the money in the selected enterprises as per the PDM guidelines,” he said.
“The government is doing all it takes to take you out of poverty. There are a number of poverty alleviation programmes like the PDM, Emyooga and Youth Livelihood Programme [YLP], among others. I want to congratulate the Government of Uganda for all these projects. I encourage you to utilise such projects,” he added.
Enterprise appraisal for PDM SACCOs
James Okol, Kwania district LCV Youth Councilor acknowledged that the diversion of the PDM funds is being done by a section of the youth who accessed the programme’s funds. The programme gives 30 percent of the Shs 100 million sent to the parish every financial year.
“My Lord bishop, the financial inclusion pillar of the PDM has a specific emphasis on youth and women. It is 30 percent for each category. In the first phase there was a concern of youth being left out. However, the concern was addressed and most of the youth received the Shs 1 million each,” he said. Under the PDM, each beneficiary gets a soft loan of Shs 1mln to fund selected income generating projects.
Okol said he would work with Kwania district production department officials to carry out enterprise appraisals of the PDM SACCOs to curb more diversion of the programme’s funds.
Arikwanga Richard Noon, Kwania Resident District Commissioner while representing Balaam Barugahara Ateenyi, Minister of State for Youth and Children Affairs at the event said his office has launched a crackdown on PDM beneficiaries who have diverted the funds for personal use instead of investing in the selected enterprises like coffee, dairy farming, fish farming, piggery, poultry keeping, beekeeping, fruit, and banana growing among others.
“I want to condemn the act and the practice of misusing the funds which are meant for investment in the selected enterprises. We have already launched a crackdown exercise and I am sure shall reach on them,” he said.
Meanwhile, a report on the disbursement of PDM funds, dated August 24, 2024, shows Kwania district as being second in terms of disbursing the programme’s funds, scoring 98 percent. Kira Municipality came top with 100 percent disbursement.
The report was presented on Wednesday to Finance ministry’s Permanent Secretary and Secreaty [PSST] to the Treasury, Ramathan Ggoobi during the interagency meeting to review the programme’s progress, especially regarding disbursement of the funds to the beneficiaries.
The PDM, a programme designed to lift about 3.5 million households in Uganda from subsistence to the money economy was launched in February 2022 by President Yoweri Museveni.
The model is a strategy for organising and delivering public and private sector interventions for wealth creation and employment generation at the parish level as the lowest economic planning unit.
Each financial year, government through the Finance ministry allocates over Shs 1 trillion to the PDM, although a report presented on Wednesday to the PSST reveals significant disparities in the performance of the local governments. For instance, the report notes that for the financial year 2023/2024, Shs 1.059 to capitalise 10,594 PDM SACCOs, although it notes that 44 local governments, despite receiving a combined total of Shs 213 billion in revolving funds since June 2024, have yet to disburse any money to the beneficiaries.
https://thecooperator.news/namutumba-officials-remanded-over-theft-of-pdm-cash/
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