Africa-Press – Uganda. Beneficiaries of the Parish Development Model (PDM) in Masaka City are protesting the high charges deducted by commercial banks.
On Tuesday last week, the Minister of Defense and Veteran Affairs Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja launched the disbursement of PDM funds to organized beneficiaries in Masaka City but it has turned out that they are discontented with how the program is being handled.
Mathias Ddumba, the Chairperson of Bulayi Ward in Nyendo-Mukungwe Division, who is also a member of the Parish Development Committee, indicates that commercial banks charge each beneficiary between 35,000 and 50,000 Shillings as account management fees, which he says is exorbitant.
Before the release of funds, beneficiaries were instructed to open accounts with commercial banks. This was where the money would be deposited and eventually accessed by individual beneficiaries.
But Ddumba protested that the beneficiaries were earlier charged 10,000 Shillings for opening accounts, which they thought was enough to manage the accounts.
He argues that all beneficiaries have part of their money withheld by banks, yet they are supposed to pay back in full amounts during the loan recovery period.
Mathias Ssekalegga, the Chairperson of Bugya Cell in Nyendo-Mukungwe Division says that they were never briefed about the deductions during the program planning meetings. He argues that the money was requested with a defined purpose, saying that any deductions directly affect the beneficiaries’ set targets, warning that some of them may use it as an excuse to default on the loans lent out to them.
Huudu Hussein, the Masaka City Resident Commissioner has called for calm among the beneficiaries pleading that he will engage the stakeholders to handle the situation to their satisfaction.
“I must ensure that this program succeeds, so I cannot tolerate anything that frustrates it,” he noted.
Sheila Akello, the Masaka City PDM Focal Person denies knowledge of the deductions. She says they were never included in the program guidelines.
According to the PDM program implementing schedule, the government has since injected close to 800 million shillings into 440 registered approved beneficiaries in Masaka City.
It is part of a total of 1.25 billion Shillings, which the city expects to receive in this financial year.
Overall, the government planned every financial year to inject 100 million shillings into every Parish Development Model-PDM SACCO to support substance households to transition into the money economy, by providing them with working capital.
For More News And Analysis About Uganda Follow Africa-Press
