SOROTI, September 2, 2026 — Newly elected Parish Development Model [PDM] SACCO leaders in Soroti City West Division must fulfil strict governance requirements before they can access already deposited in the SACCO accounts, officials have announced.
George William Tukei, the Commercial Officer for Soroti City West Division, said the funds allocated to the 12 wards would only be released after the leaders submit four copies of the minutes of their first meeting, vetting reports and records of executive elections, all duly certified by the Registrar of Cooperatives.
Tukei warned that funds would not be disbursed to wards that fail to comply with the requirements.
He added that profiling of PDM success stories had revealed barely 10 beneficiaries per ward, indicating that funds may not have been put to proper use, partly because of poor enterprise selection.
Tukei said Soroti City West Division has so far received Shs 3.57 billion and urged the new leaders to establish whether the money actually exists in the respective accounts and whether the listed SACCO members are genuine.
He said the leaders should also take a keen interest in identifying the genuine beneficiaries of the next Shs 50 million allocation.
“Otherwise, if the PDCs sit down and the money is paid to the wrong people, they will be held liable,” Tukei warned.
He urged the leaders to sensitise beneficiaries that PDM money is a loan, not a grant, and must therefore be repaid.
Tukei added that those expecting handouts should instead wait for presidential envelopes.
Elijah Otim, the Soroti City Commercial Officer, said officials did not expect the new SACCO executives to repeat the mistakes of their predecessors, many of whom were arrested over alleged mismanagement.
He accused some former leaders of replacing official lists generated through the LCI system with names of their relatives while leaving out special categories, including the elderly and young people.
“We have built capacity and provided clear guidelines. There should be no room for excuses,” Otim said.
“We shall demand the original lists from the wards and compare them with the disbursement lists. We are ready to arrest corrupt people,” he added.
James Kyomya, the Deputy Resident City Commissioner for Soroti City West Division, reinforced the warning, saying PDM executives are government foot soldiers and must protect the revolving nature of the fund.
“Your role is to serve the members, not yourselves. Any deviation will be treated as sabotage,” Kyomya said.
He added that community barazas would be held to audit past management, warning that leaders who could not be transparent should resign or risk arrest.
Peter Odikor, the Town Agent for Nakatunya Ward, who represented the Town Clerk of Soroti City West Division, expressed confidence in the new leaders and urged them to improve the implementation of government programmes.
He also said each of the 12 wards had received Shs 70 million for restocking and urged the leaders to monitor whether the funds were being put to proper use.
However, Charles Engulu, a councillor in the division, said some of the poorest households were shunning PDM SACCOs for fear of arrest if they failed to repay the loans.
He appealed for intensified sensitisation at the grassroots to help community members understand the cooperative model and encourage eligible households to apply for funds to lift themselves out of poverty.
As of August 2026, the Government of Uganda had disbursed more than Shs 3.6 trillion under the PDM nationwide. However, loan repayments remained extremely low, with approximately Shs 3.4 billion recovered out of an expected Shs 966 billion due.
Launched in February 2022 as a government initiative for poverty eradication, the PDM provides a soft loan of Shs 1 million to each beneficiary of the programme for investment in selected enterprises such as; coffee, dairy farming, crop farming, fish farming, piggery, poultry keeping, and beekeeping among others. Each financial year, government sends Shs 100 million to each parish for this purpose.
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