MP Mugisa calls for impartiality in disbursing funds to PDM beneficiaries

Fort Portal City, May 31, 2024 - The Fort Portal City Woman Member of Parliament, Irene Linda Mugisa has urged parish committees not to segregate while disbursing funds to the beneficiaries of the Parish Development Model [PDM].

Mugisa said she has received several complaints from PDM beneficiaries that some parish committees segregate while selecting who benefits from the programme launched in February 2022, aimed at moving 3.5 million households from the subsistence to the money economy.

“Parish committees should give money to people who are active in their SACCOs, those below the poverty line and can utilise this money to change their lives like how it is stated in the guidelines. I have received complaints that some PDM beneficiaries have not received the money despite applying for it,” Mugisa said.

She told this reporter that the programme is meant to benefit many households which are below the poverty line and not benefiting more than one person from each household.

Mugisa called upon all parish committees to be transparent, not selective and follow the selection criteria as stated in the program guidelines.

“Though this money is not a grant but a revolving fund, it is meant to benefit the 39 percent of Ugandans who are active poor not the rich. However, those taking the money should ensure they utilise it very well, pay back so that it can benefit many people,” she said.

During monitoring, Mugisa said that she observed the need to divide some parishes which are very big and have many villages in order to ensure that they all benefit.

She said that parishes with few villages are on high chances that many people will benefit compared to those with very many villages.

“Some parishes have about 14 villages and this becomes a challenge because when money comes it’s like it has landed in the ocean. There are some villages where none has so far benefited and when you go there, people are always very bitter saying they have not received the money,” she said.

Big parishes with more than 10 villages include Butebe, Karambi,Kitumba and Nyakagongo and these parishes also receive same amount of money like the small ones and you cannot easily notice the impact, according to Mugisa.

On the other hand, Mugisa expressed concern over the three parishes which were not allocated the money and yet they were gazetted.

“Nyakitojo, Kitaka and Rwenkuba are the parishes that were gazetted but were not allocated PDM funds. The Ministry of Local Government is aware and it was tabled before parliament, we are now waiting for the Ministry of Finance to include these parishes so that they can start benefiting,” she said.

She promised to make a follow up until all these parishes get the money so that they can benefit from this programme.

Mugisa pledged to continue to mobilise, monitor and sensitise the general public about PDM and other government programmes to ensure that no one is left behind.

She commended government for including value addition among the enterprises for one to benefit from PDM fund saying most of the people in cities can mostly get involved in value addition which is easy for them and does not need a lot of space like other enterprises.

“Most people in cities like Fort Portal can easily deal in selling eggs, dairy products and other value addition projects that don’t need a lot of space. Most people in town are tenants and lack space to do poultry or piggery but can deal in their products,” she said.

PDM is an approach to organising and delivering public and private sector interventions for wealth creation at the parish level as the lowest economic unit for planning, budgeting, reporting and delivery of interventions by both the state and non-state actors.

The parish is the epicenter of multi-sectoral community development, implementation, supervision, monitoring and accountability.

The LCII chairperson and parish chief are responsible for political stewardship in the implementation of the parish model in their respective parishes with support from the sub-county and district technical planning committee.

In Fort Portal City, 21 parishes are benefiting from the PDM and most of them have already received the Shs 50 million each or will all have received it by the end of next month.

Every financial year, government through the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development releases Shs 100mln to each PDM SACCO.

https://thecooperator.news/mp-urges-fort-portal-parents-to-embrace-pdm/

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