Soroti City plans to sensitise PDM beneficiaries as recovery period of the first funds draws nearer
Government began disbursing PDM funds to PDM SACCOs across the country in the 2022/2023 financial year
SOROTI, April 9, 2025 –– The authorities in Soroti City are set to launch a sensitisation campaign as the recovery period for the first funds disbursed to the beneficiaries of the Parish Development Model [ PDM ] draws closer. George Tukei, the Soroti City Commercial Officer, shared this latest development with theCooperator News in an interview a few days ago.
The official stated that the first beneficiaries of the programme now have limited time to repay the loans to the Parish Revolving Fund [PRF], which receives Shs 100 million from the government every financial year.
Government began disbursing PDM funds to PDM SACCOs across the country in the 2022/2023 financial year, although the beneficiaries are supposed to pay back the money with a small interest after two years have elapsed.
The PDM is a Government of Uganda initiative, launched in February 2022, aimed at improving household incomes and welfare by bringing services closer to the people at the parish level, the lowest administrative unit for planning and service delivery. Under the programme, the government aims to move 3.5 million households from subsistence farming to a money economy through the commercialisation of the agricultural value chain.
Tukei revealed that only three months remain to begin recovering Shs 6.4 billion disbursed to the PDM beneficiaries. He expressed confidence that the recipients will understand the importance of repaying their loans.
Under the programme, each beneficiary receives Shs 1 million in soft loans to invest in selected enterprises such as piggery, poultry keeping, dairy farming, fish farming, beekeeping, banana growing, and fruit farming, among others.
According to the programme’s guidelines, the loans must be repaid to the PRF for others to use. “We believe that Shs 6,427,649,255 billion is with our people, and we expect that the beneficiaries will perform better in terms of repayment,” Tukei said.
Tukei urged the first PDM beneficiaries in Soroti City to prepare for repayment as the time is nearly up. “We will not just surprise them; they still have three months left. We believe that, within the remaining three months, we will be able to sensitise them about repayment,” he explained.
Some of the affected beneficiaries, whom theCooperator News spoke with, stated they are ready to repay the money to the PRF. However, they noted that banks and parish leaders deducted certain percentages from the Shs 1 million sent by the government to each beneficiary.
For example, Jacob Eitu, one of the first PDM beneficiaries in Amoru Ward, Soroti City, said he received only Shs 985,000, which he used to start a piggery project.
“I am ready to pay back the money, as I have made some profit from the project. Each member of our PDM SACCO is required to save money so that repaying the loan does not become a challenge,” Eitu explained.
However, Simon Ekanyu, Chairperson of the Amoru PDM SACCO, told theCooperator News that some beneficiaries misused the funds, mistakenly believing it was free government money, allegedly encouraged by certain political leaders.
Ekanyu said they have decided to form a savings and credit association to assist beneficiaries in repaying the money more easily. He added that it is mandatory for all PDM beneficiaries in Amoru Ward to join the association.
However, some beneficiaries who ventured into piggery, poultry, and other forms of farming have stated that their projects were affected by factors such as disease, theft, and drought. As a result, they are unable to repay the loans and are requesting more time to organise themselves to do so.
One beneficiary, who preferred to remain anonymous, explained, “A strange disease attacked my hens, and most of them died. This was a loss for me because I did not make any profit or recover the money I invested in the project.” When asked whether he reported the matter to the authorities, he declined to comment further.
Musa Oroma, the Assistant Resident City Commissioner for Soroti City, was contacted for comment on PDM loan repayment and stated that those who put the money to good use should be able to repay the PRF so that other beneficiaries of the programme can benefit from the same funds.
Oroma emphasised that the repayment period will allow authorities in Soroti City to assess who used the money properly and who misused it. He also stressed that all the PDM beneficiaries who received the funds must repay them when the time comes.
“All PDM beneficiaries in Soroti City were trained on how to use the money. Therefore, we will simply use the law to ensure they repay the loans so that others can benefit,” Oroma added.
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