BABIRYE M. BABALANDA: President Museveni’s tours a big boost to PDM success

On November 10, 2024, President Yoweri Museveni arrived in Kibuku district on a Parish Development Model (PDM) performance assessment tour. He would spend three days there, before heading to Sebei, Teso, Karamoja and Bugisu sub-regions at intervals. He is slated to visit other sub-regions in the country to see for himself the status of PDM implementation on the ground.

I wish to thank His Excellency the President for committing himself to the transformation of the lives of Ugandans and eliminating poverty from their households. His tours are a manifestation of his faith in PDM’s ability to transform and uplift the lives of Ugandans for better.

Previously, the President visited Acholi, West Nile and Greater Masaka. Soon, we look forward to hosting him in Busoga Sub-Region, and then on to other areas. PDM is a reality in every parish/ward in the country and people are so happy. What started as a paper concept is now evident in the lives of the willing.

I thank you, Ugandans, for always welcoming the President and assimilating his messages on overcoming poverty in your households and communities. A lot remains to be done. Each tour celebrates a step ahead. The pace depends on how well the masses embrace the message. Ever since 2022 when the President launched the PDM in Kibuku district, much work has been done in its implementation. Regulations have been studied and revised accordingly, but the overall objective remains to lift 39% of the population from the subsistence to the money economy.

My ministry is involved with PDM at the supervisory and monitoring level. Resident District Commissioners (RDCs), Resident City Commissioners (RCCs), their deputies and assistants are tasked with monitoring the strategy’s implementation to ascertain that all players do their job without digression. They are charged with ensuring that the process of selecting beneficiaries is transparent and fair, that those enrolling the beneficiaries don’t extort money from them and that anybody who illegally accesses PDM money is prosecuted for their misdeed. Other tasks apply according to the problem identified. From the reports and our own field visits, we are able to assess and determine how much has been achieved in implementation, the challenges and the way forward.

The President is updated more than anybody on PDM. Apart from briefs from the implementing line ministry (Local Government), he has intelligence briefs, extracts from public media and other sources. His field visits serve to give him a practical assessment of what he is briefed on and to encourage, in person, the beneficiaries, and to remind government officials to do a better job and to respond to any concerns from the public.
He, as well, picks feedback from the people and understands firsthand practical challenges that exist in Government’s anti-poverty programs and proposes amendments or improvements, depending on the nature of the challenges identified.

The President has been most gracious. He is most considerate of omuntu wa wansi (the ordinary citizen). At first, the PDM rules allowed beneficiaries to get less than one million shillings. Many initial beneficiaries got that, and PDM committee members, and I hear, some parish chiefs used that opportunity to fraudulently engage in negotiations with gullible would-be beneficiaries on how much they would get. If the “victims” of extortion agreed to a certain fee, they could get more-then return some to the official.

But even without the extortion, some beneficiaries applied for less money, say Shs300, 000. This amount, while it was something, it could not reasonably start off someone or boost their enterprise. What could such an amount change? Considering these issues, the President directed that all beneficiaries must get Shs1million. Recently, he has directed that even bank charges are met by Government so that the full one million is paid out to the beneficiary. This amount is realistic for someone starting. If it’s more, it could tempt the receiver and go to waste; if less, it could prove insufficient and make repayment a challenge. However, there is a high chance that if beneficiaries invest well and repay, Government will increase the seed capital for each.

The President has sounded warnings to government officials to desist from extortion in PDM. All those involved are to be forced to refund the money and to be prosecuted. Again, this is intended to ensure that the recipients receive their full amounts for which they are accountable when it comes to pay time which is around the corner.

Initially, beneficiaries were supposed to start paying back money to the respective SACCO accounts on terms agreed in accordance with the maturity of their enterprise. However, the President stood in for them and directed that they repay after two years (24 months) with a grace period of one year (12 months). That means that someone who got money in early in 2023, it’s about time to start repaying, with a grace period stretching to next year.

I am confident for someone whose enterprise enables them to harvest two or three times a year, the one million shillings invested has been able to “reproduce”, making repayment an easy procedure. I, therefore, request our beloved beneficiaries to honour their part of the bargain so that the money works for other people who are their neighbours and relatives in the parishes or wards. It’s a revolving fund and it stays in the SACCO account, a sort of “village bank”.

Someone like Ms. Florence Nabutono of Bukoda Cell, Kasasira Town Council in Kibuku District whose successful poultry and piggery enterprise was among those visited by the President cannot find hard time paying back. These are the role models to encourage their comrades. I request RDCs and RCCs to utilise such successful beneficiaries to mobilise their colleagues, as a follow-up to the President’s visits.

I thank all stakeholders in PDM implementation for their positive contribution to its success, not less the Secretariat under the Ministry of Local Government led by my colleague, Hon. Raphael Magyezi. Let’s fix the negatives and ensure that the strategy creates a notable difference in the lives of our people across the political divide. That way, the Manifesto of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) pledge on job creation and socioeconomically transforming the lives of Ugandans will be achieved fully.
I urge leaders in the districts and cities to lay a proper ground for the President’s tours by preparing accurate reports on progress so far in PDM.

I wish all Ugandans a New Year of joy, good health, progress and prosperity!

The author is the Minister for the Presidency