KAMPALA, March 2, 2024 – The Members of Parliament have expressed concern over the alleged fraud surrounding disbursement of funds under the Parish Development Model [ PDM ] to beneficiaries across the country.
MPs are mainly concerned with the Wendi Mobile Application used by Post Bank Uganda to transfer funds to beneficiaries, which is said to have been hacked, leading to financial loss.
“In my district and many others, Wendi App has enabled Post Bank to send up to Shs 70 million to PDM leaders who then disburse funds their members. These people are not ready and equipped to receive such sums of money. As a result many of them have been arrested as a lot of money has been lost,” said Florence Nambozo, Sironko District Woman Member of Parliament.
Nambozo raised this as a matter of national importance during the plenary sitting Chaired by Deputy Speaker Thomas on Thursday, following several media reports.
Tayebwa, claimed to have received complaints of corruption in the management of PDM funds meant to help poor households in the country to get out of poverty.
“I have been hearing rumours, people complaining that there is corruption in PDM, saying that money is going to this and that individual,” he said.
Tayebwa mentioned that he was unaware of the changes in disbursement of PDM funds from Parish-Development Model SACCOs to beneficiaries’ phones using the Wendi App, which he asked the Prime Minister, Robinah Nabbanja, to justify.
“We agreed that every time government makes changes in implementation of PDM you update this House, so that we go mobilise our people and inform them of the changes. I do not even know they changed to the App, people do not even know who owns it,” Tayebwa said.
He asked the Prime Minister to furnish Parliament with a statement on the latest developments in PDM, saying MPs should be onboard at every stage for proper supervision of the programme launched in 2022 by President Museveni, targeting to move 3.5 million households in Uganda from the subsistence economy to the money economy.
However, Nabbanja reiterated that the Wendi App was introduced to address long and frustrating lines that PDM beneficiaries were facing while in banking halls.
“I want our people to remember how beneficiaries used to lineup in banks, it became hectic and we decided to use an App where beneficiaries could receive money through their phones,” she said.
She said she was aware of the App’s technical glitches and that her office was scheduled to resolve the matter with Post Bank.
“We are having a meeting with the Managing Director, Post Bank tomorrow, otherwise Wendi has to be refined to bridge all these gaps to avoid fraudulent people who are taking advantage and stealing our people,” she said.
Under the PDM, each beneficiary gets Shs 1mln loan to invest in agricultural enterprises such as dairy farming, fish farming, piggery, poultry keeping, and beekeeping, among several other enterprises.
According to the Ministry of Finance, government has so far disbursed over Shs 2 trillion to different PDM SACCOs in the country.
https://thecooperator.news/mps-want-pdm-beneficiaries-to-have-more-access-to-banking/
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