Hoima: Minister warns chiefs against mismanaging PDM
HOIMA– The State Minister for Local Government, Victoria Rusoke has warned parish chiefs in Hoima against mismanaging the Parish Development Model [PDM] which was initiated to fight poverty in the country’s poor households.
While addressing thousands of mourners at Buswekera village in Hoima City during the burial of former Hoima district Chairman, Kirungi Kadiri, Rosoke Rusoke noted that some gaps which may lead to mismanaging the programme have been detected. Kadiri perished in a car crash on Friday night in Kiboga district.
The minister noted that parish chiefs and sub-county chiefs in some parts of the country have registered beneficiaries not targeted by the PDM, which aims to move 3.5 million households still in the subsistence economy to the money PDM.
Rusoke added that the implementers of the PDM have not done enough to sensitise the public about the programme, saying it is affecting its progress.
Commenting on the money, the minister said not every PDM beneficiary would receive shs 1 million, noting that some of them have no capacity to use the funds. She called for the assessment of the beneficiaries before being given the money, saying mismanaging the money should be avoided.
“It is not a must that they should give all of them [ PDM beneficiaries] Shs 1 million. Assess them and if you find out that someone has the capacity of utilising Shs 500, 000 or Shs 300, 000 give him that money,” she said.
Odrek Rwabwogo, the special advisor to the president called upon the people of Bunyoro to embrace agricultural production to fight against poverty.
He noted that wealth is in farming, adding that it is the high time Ugandans embraced commercial farming.
Under PDM, each of the 10,594 parishes in the country is expected to receive Shs 100 million every financial year to operationalise the Parish Revolving Fund [PRF] as one way of empowering communities to engage in commercial production.
The PDM was launched by President Yoweri Museveni in February 2022, aiming at uplifting 3.5 million households still in the subsistence economy to the money economy.
The programme has seven pillars; processing and marketing, infrastructure and economic service, financial inclusion, mindset change, parish-based information management systems, social services, and government and administration.
In the current financial year, 2022/23, the government appropriated about Shs 1 trillion for the programme expected to focus more on agricultural enterprises such as coffee growing, piggery, and poultry keeping, among others.
https://thecooperator.news/more-women-urged-to-join-pdm/
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