The Parish Development Model (PDM), was introduced in Agago district on June 26, 2023, with 117 parishes slated to receive 57 million Shillings of the 6.5 billion Shillings available.
Beatrice Akori, the State Minister for Economic Monitoring, congratulated the district’s 4,296 recipients for their patience following the program’s delay in opening on Saturday at the Agago district headquarters.
She stated that the Minister of Finance has pledged to transfer the remaining 50 million Shillings to the district account by the end of the fiscal year 2022/2023.
“This means that those who have not yet received the funds should not be disheartened.” “I understand that only three parishes did not receive funds, but they will soon,” Akori said, adding that “the delay in the official launch was due to the government wanting the beneficiaries to be well prepared on how to handle funds.”
However, Akori chastised some parish chiefs and Sacco leaders who charged recipients 15,000 shillings for registration and documentation.
Richard Bongomin Akal, the PDM focal person for the Agago District, advised the beneficiaries to report parish chiefs and Sacco leaders who charge more than 5,000 shillings for registration.
According to Samuel Nyeko, the Principal Assistant Secretary who represented the CAO Muwonge Abdulnoor Mbagwa, the district has 1,174 registered enterprise groupings. The groupings included 5,802 youths, 2,161 people with disabilities, and 19,225 households.
Three PDM Saccos (Ala ward sacco in Adilang Town Council, Adilang central ward sacco, and Amado Ward) missed the first release of 25 million Shillings each, and the second release of 25 million Shillings is still entering various PDM sacco accounts; the exact amount will be communicated through the PRF utilization tracker, and the CAO has already written to the Ministry of Finance to alert them.
Michael Otim, a PDM Secretariat official, urged the leaders to mobilize the populace to register for the program in order to help them enhance their household income.
Otim reminded leaders that misappropriating cash is a major impediment to the success of comparable government programs.
Marino Obwoch, a Patongo Lakwa Sacco beneficiary who performs horticulture, urged authorities to guarantee that such money be distributed to final beneficiaries in a timely manner so that they do not miss planting in the second season as they did in the first.
Obwoch encouraged fellow farmers to make excellent use of the monies in order to meet their fundamental necessities.
PDM is a Poverty Alleviation program in which the government fights household poverty at the parish level, focusing on those who remain in the subsistence sector.
