BUVUMA, June 20, 2025 –– President Yoweri Museveni has called on Ugandans to seize the opportunity presented by the Parish Development Model [PDM] to eradicate household poverty.
Speaking on Thursday during a tour of a PDM-funded farm belonging to Muwereza Wako in Buyego Cell, Buvuma Sub-county, Buvuma district, the President emphasised that the PDM programme offers a real chance for Ugandans to transform their livelihoods.
“Don’t lose this opportunity – it is a major support to you,” Museveni said. “Wako, who was once poor, is now a prosperous man. He owns three cows and a milling machine, all thanks to his family embracing the PDM. I know we’re not all equal, but by participating in the PDM, you can defeat poverty in your households.”
The President said he has championed several poverty alleviation initiatives throughout his leadership, with PDM being one of the most significant.
During his visit, Museveni expressed satisfaction with the progress made by Wako, a beneficiary of the programme, who has managed to build a small but thriving agribusiness enterprise on just half an acre of land.
The President also noted that while the government has long disbursed resources to combat poverty, some of these efforts were undermined by mismanagement at various levels.
He explained that under PDM, each parish now receives Shs 100 million annually, and over the next five years, each is expected to receive a total of Shs 500 million.
He further revealed that the initial group of beneficiaries, who received Shs 1 million each two years ago, would repay the loans with interest of Shs 120,000, allowing other members of the community to access the funds in future cycles.
As a gesture of support, Museveni personally gave Wako Shs 12 million – Shs 10 million to buy an acre of land and Shs 2 million to invest in livestock, including goats and pigs.
In response, Wako thanked the President for launching the PDM, saying it had drastically changed his life. “I used to be so poor that I couldn’t even feed my family. But today, people call me a rich man,” he said.
Wako lives on half an acre of land with his wife, Eseza Mirembe, and their eight children. He received Shs 1 million from the PDM on 21 June 2023, and after bank charges, he was left with Shs 980,000.
With these funds, he combined his own savings to buy a bull and a cow. The cow conceived and gave birth to a calf in May 2024. That same month, he sold the bull for Shs 1 million and used the money as part-payment for a used milling machine priced at Shs 2.5 million. The seller allowed him to clear the balance of Shs 1.5 million in instalments, which he managed through proceeds earned from operating the machine.
Wako now earns approximately Shs 15,000 a day from the milling business, after deducting Shs 5,000 for fuel costs – leaving him with a net daily income of Shs 10,000, or about Shs 300,000 per month. His dairy cow produces three litres of milk daily, two of which he sells at Shs 1,000 per litre, generating an additional Shs 60,000 per month. He also uses the cow dung and urine as fertiliser for his garden.
Wako’s story, Museveni said, is proof that the PDM programme lunched in February 2022, can change lives if well embraced and effectively managed.
Launched as a key pillar of Uganda’s National Development Plan III [NDPIII], the PDM is designed as a last-mile service delivery strategy to improve household incomes and welfare. The programme utilises the parish as the lowest administrative and operational unit to bring services closer to the people and foster local economic development.
At its core, the PDM promotes a harmonised, coordinated, and results-based approach to transforming subsistence households into active participants in the money economy.
https://thecooperator.news/pdm-beneficiaries-in-hoima-city-decry-soaring-feed-prices/
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