According to Raphael Magyezi, the Minister for Local Government, every parish in Uganda has already received sh100 million for the Parish Development Model (PDM) program, with the exception of ten due to different irregularities in their names, accounts, and signatories.

“As I speak, there are about ten parishes that have not received the money, but the rest have already received their sh100m,” he remarked on Tuesday, August 1, during Urban TV’s Rush Hour broadcast.

The minister stated that the government has finally hushed the critics who warned that the current poverty Alleviation program will fail and result in a stillbirth.

When New Vision later contacted Magyezi about the disbursed monies, he stated that they were released at the conclusion of the previous fiscal year.

“So, all 10,694 parishes received sh100 million each, with the exception of about ten where we had issues with the names, and so on.” That was a budget commitment for the previous fiscal year, so I am pleased that the Government has fulfilled its promise to provide sh100 million per parish for PDM,” he said.

He stated that they are currently in the process of ensuring that the released funds reach the intended recipients—the 39% of households in the subsistence economy.

“I am now urging local governments to ensure that this money leaves the PDM Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies’ accounts in various banks and is distributed to the beneficiaries.” “We also have the responsibility to monitor it and remind the beneficiaries that PDM is for putting into an enterprise for socioeconomic transformation of the homes,” Magyezi explained.

The minister also stated that they were looking into ways to integrate their PDM work with the Emyooga effort so that the two programs run in tandem.

Emyooga is the President’s program to increase wealth and create jobs. It was launched in August 2019 as part of a broader government policy to transition 68% of homesteads from subsistence to market-oriented production, with the main goal of encouraging job development and increasing household incomes.

The effort is concentrated on distinct 18 categories/enterprises that cover the majority of formerly financially excluded Ugandans who work in comparable specialized enterprise categories.

These are provided with both technical and financial assistance in order to improve the performance of their initiatives and, ultimately, their earnings.