KABALE, September 25, 2026 — Government has recovered only about Shs 6 billion out of the Shs4.3 trillion disbursed to beneficiaries under the Parish Development Model [PDM], raising concerns over the low repayment rate of the programme’s revolving funds.
State Minister for Finance in charge of Microfinance, Shartsi Musherure Kutesa, disclosed the figures during the Local Government Budget Consultations for the Financial Year 2027/2028 held in Kabale Municipality on Thursday.
The consultations are part of a nationwide exercise organised by the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development [MoFPED] under the theme: “Full Monetisation of Uganda’s Economy through Commercial Agriculture, Industrialisation, Expanding and Broadening Services, Digital Transformation and Market Access.”
The essence of the national budget consultation process has been to listen to the views of our partners at the local government level before budgeting, and it is therefore the intention of government to turn these national priorities into tangible results by preparing focused, realistic and results-oriented budgets, so that every shilling delivers value for money.
Continuing with the PDM, Musherure said the low recovery rate was a major concern and called for increased sensitisation of beneficiaries to ensure they understand that PDM funds are revolving loans and not grants.
“There is a huge gap in recovering PDM funds. The beneficiaries must have markets and must be told that this was not ‘akasimo’ but rather that there was a grace period,” Musherure said.
She said improving beneficiaries’ access to markets would be critical in helping them generate income from their enterprises and meet their repayment obligations.
The minister’s remarks come as beneficiaries who received PDM funds during the programme’s initial rollout move beyond the grace period provided before repayment begins.
PDM beneficiaries urged to repay
Rukiga District LCV Chairperson Simon Mutebi Rwamagyenda urged local leaders and technical officers to intensify community sensitisation on the repayment requirements.
He proposed the use of community barazas, radio programmes and other local communication platforms to address misconceptions surrounding the programme.
“There is a need for us to educate the locals that the money given to them must be recovered. After repaying the loan, other people will benefit,” Rwamagyenda said.
Rwamagyenda said continued sensitisation was necessary to counter perceptions among some beneficiaries that PDM funds were political handouts that did not have to be repaid.
Robert Sendegeya, a member of the PDM Secretariat, said government had invested approximately Shs 4.3 trillion across 10,589 parishes under the programme.
He said beneficiaries were given a two-year grace period before beginning repayment through their respective local SACCOs. Each of the beneficiaries receives a soft loan of Shs 1 million for commercial production.
This means households that received funds during the initial 2022/2023 rollout are now expected to have entered the repayment phase.
About the Parish Development Model
The Parish Development Model is a government programme introduced in February 2022 to accelerate the socio-economic transformation of households at parish level.
The programme targets households operating largely outside Uganda’s money economy and seeks to help them increase production, access financing and participate more actively in commercial economic activities such as piggery, poultry keeping, fish farming, coffee growing, and beekeeping among others in the agricultural sector, as cited in the programme guidelines.
Under PDM, government channels funds through parish-level SACCOs, which provide financing to eligible beneficiaries for income-generating activities. The funds are intended to operate as a revolving fund, meaning money repaid by beneficiaries can subsequently be lent to other eligible members.
The programme therefore depends on beneficiaries repaying their loans to keep the fund circulating within communities.
The reported recovery of only about Shs 6 billion from the Shs 4.3 trillion disbursed represents a small proportion of the funds invested under the programme and has heightened concerns about the sustainability of the revolving financing mechanism.
The low recovery rate has also renewed calls for stronger monitoring, financial literacy, enterprise support and access to reliable markets to help beneficiaries generate sufficient income to repay their loans.
Officials at the budget consultations said continued engagement with local leaders, technical officers and communities would be necessary to strengthen implementation, improve repayment and ensure that the revolving funds continue supporting other eligible beneficiaries.
https://thecooperator.news/kikuube-district-receives-additional-shs1-29bln-for-pdm-beneficiaries/
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