The Kagadi Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) has been ordered to quickly detain parish leaders, ward agents, and other public employees who are stealing Parish Development Model (PDM) funding by Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja.

Similarly, Nabbanja demanded that authorities who demanded money from persons attempting to access the Parish Revolving Fund (PRF) be brought to justice.

The premier’s order came in response to reports from the Kagadi Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Lilian Ruteraho, that certain members of the technical staff and civil servants, particularly parish chiefs from some sub-counties of the Kagadi District, were engaging in the illegal collection of fees totaling Sh30,000 for each beneficiary as “password fees,” “internet fees,” and transportation fees, among other things.

“I am directing the chief administrative officer, the Police, and the resident district commissioners in greater Kibaale to ensure that all those parish chiefs, ward agents, and SACCOS chairpersons implicated in extorting and swindling PDM funds are arrested and prosecuted in courts of law, including interdiction,” said Nabbanja.

In addition, Nabbanja said, “I want to order Kagadi Chief Administrative Officer Pauline Epodoi to detain an alleged veterinary official who provided a false post-mortem report regarding the killing of five goats by one Deogratius Begumisa, belonging to his wife who was a PDM beneficiary.”

Begumisa, an agent in the Nyamigisa ward of Pacwa Town Council, and Mubarak Magezi, the NRM chairperson for Pacwa Sub-County, were both ordered to be detained for allegedly defrauding PDM beneficiaries out of over sh1 million.

Nabbanja further suggested that all parish revolving monies be immediately transferred to the respective mobile phones of beneficiaries to facilitate services and ordered the immediate reimbursement of any money that had been improperly charged to PDM beneficiaries.

The Uganda Rural Development and Training Institute (URDT) in Kagadi Town Council hosted a meeting between the prime minister and representatives from the Kagadi and Kibaale districts on September 30. The meeting’s purpose was to inform and mobilize technical staff about PDM and the upcoming Agriculture Expo in Kagadi, which is scheduled to take place on October 6, 2023.

Nabbanja expressed concern about the laxity of agricultural extension workers, veterinary officers, PDM focal persons, parish chiefs, and other technical staff for failing to sensitize and mobilize the locals on PDM, promising severe punitive action. Nabbanja also pledged to donate eight brand-new motorcycles to sub-county veterinary officers.

She did, however, congratulate Jovrine Kyomukama Kalisa, the PDM deputy national coordinator, for her ongoing community mobilization and sensitization efforts as well as for her role in the arrest of technical staff members who were known for extorting money from parishioners for their own profit.