OMORO, January 15, 2024 – Government is considering including Local Council One [LCI] chairpersons in the country as beneficiaries of the ongoing Parish Development Model [PDM] whose aim is to move poor households out of the subsistence to the money economy.
Currently, LCI chairpersons are not part of the Ugandans who are supposed to benefit from the PDM launched in February 2022, although some of the leaders have accessed the money illegally.
The Minister of Local Government, Raphael Magyezi disclosed the latest development days ago while meeting local leaders from Omoro district during a recent cadre training, following an outcry from the affected LCs from across the country.
Magyezi said that the government will now pilot the inclusion of LC chairpersons and the chairpersons of the National Resistance Movement [NRM] of Omoro district to study its effectiveness before rolling it out to other parts of the country.
“Before rolling it out to other parts of the country, we will pilot it with Omoro district, because the law allows me to make that directive, so, the PDM focal point person in Omoro district should ensure that the LCs in this district are included as beneficiaries,” Magyezi said.
Catherine Lamwaka, the Omoro District Woman Member of Parliament said by allowing the local leaders to benefit from the programme, they become role models in the communities they serve.
Lamwaka is optimistic that after a one-week cadre training on socio-economic transformation, the leaders upon receiving the funds will implement their projects.
However, Martine Ojara Mapenduzi, the Bar-dege Layibi Division MP, urged government to review the funding of the programme that is allocated over Shs 1 trillion every financial year [FY], beginning with FY 2022/2023.
He said instead of giving Shs 100 million to each of the 10,594 parishes in Uganda every financial year, it should consider giving money according to the number of people in a particular parish.
The PDM is the last mile strategy for service delivery by Government of Uganda for improving incomes and welfare of all Ugandans at the household level. It is an extension of the whole-of-Government approach to development as envisaged under the 3rd National Development Plan [NDPIII], with the parish as the lowest administrative and operational hub for delivering services closer to the people and hence foster local economic development.
Under the programme considered by government as a game changer, each of the beneficiaries borrows Shs 1mln from the Shs 100mln parish revolving fund to invest in selected enterprises such as coffee, dairy farming, fish farming, piggery, grains, fruits, beekeeping and poultry among others.
Under the programme’s financial inclusion pillar, 30 percent of the parish revolving fund goes to women; 30 percent to youths; 10 percent to persons with disability; 10 percent to the elderly; and lastly 20 percent to men and others that don’t fall in the above special categories.
https://thecooperator.news/pdm-dokolo-recovers-shs-10m-received-fraudulently/
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