Africa-Press – Uganda. Leaders in Masaka City and Masaka District have criticised government over its delay to release guidelines for implementation of the Parish Development Model programme (PDM).
Under the PDM programme, the government plans to give at least Shs100m to each of the 10,594 parishes countrywide, in a bid to bring nearly 39 percent of households from subsistence economy to commercial production.
The group led by the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament (LOP), Mr Matthias Mpuuga, who is also MP for Nyendo–Mukungwe, said despite government releasing PDM funds for three-quarters, districts are still stuck with the money on their accounts because the guidelines to be used by implementers are not yet out.
“We are wondering why the government has released the funds which lack any framework or guidelines on how they will be utilised and monitored,” Mr Mpuuga said in an interview on Wednesday.
He said he will soon raise the matter on the floor of Parliament because Ugandans are ready to utilise the allocated money.
“It’s not the first time the government is releasing money without guidelines. When Emyooga initiative was started, funds were rashly released on the eve of a General Election, which has made its monitoring and reimbursement tainted with errors,” he claimed.
Kimaanya –Kabonera MP Abed Bwanika said: “There are no structures at all wards in the constituency, and even the newly appointed parishes chiefs have not reported to their respective offices because they have no appointment letters.”
“I think the framers of PDM would have come up with all strategies to implement it before releasing the funds because what we are seeing now is poor preparation and planning,” he added.
‘Repeating old mistakes’
Dr Bwanika said all mistakes in the Emyooga programme have already manifested in the PDM programme.
Mr Richard Sebamala, the MP for Bukoto Central, claimed the people spearheading the PDM programme in his constituency are members of the ruling National Resistance Movement party structures, saying they may sideline residents subscribing to other political parties.
“Failure by people in the line ministries to involve local leaders in this programme [PMD] and using NRM structures to spearhead all government livelihood programmes remain the major barriers to register success in the implementation of government programmes,” he said.
But Mr Raphael Magyezi, the minister for Local Government, said preparations for the implementation of PDM are on course and it will soon be rolled out.
“We are done with the recruitment of parish chiefs who will be supervising and guiding the implementation of the programme. Funds are already available on all district accounts and in two months, the programme will be rolled out,” the minister told Daily Monitor in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
He further revealed that government will use the local government structures both at parish and sub-county levels to implement the PDM programme.
About programme
It is through this model that government is planning to give out at least Shs100m to each of the 10,694 parishes, starting this year as a revolving fund aimed at bringing nearly 39 percent of households from subsistence economy to commercial production.
A total of Shs200b was approved by Parliament for the programme in the current financial year (2021/2022).
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