President Yoweri Museveni is set to launch the highly anticipated Parish Development Model(PDM), a fresh scheme by government to alleviate poverty at household level.
The PDM replaces the Emyooga, a presidential initiative on wealth and job creation, was rolled out in October 2020 to support informal workers including among others, market vendors, welders, taxi drivers, boda-boda riders, women and restaurant in various SACCOS.
Government injected Shs 490 billion PDM meant to the project that seeks to target developmental activities at the parishes. It will be piloted in Bukedi sub region, where every parish will get 100 million shillings.
Minister for Local Government Raphel Magyezi said lastweek at Parliament that the launch will include a demonstration of the parish based Management Information System and commissioning of the Community Tractor Scheme, a key pillar of the parish model that seeks to boost
Productivity. He said that beneficiaries would access the funds via their SACCOs immediately after the launch.
He said government was confident in the model’s ability to catapult the economy, adding it was the first programme that binds all ministries operating at a parish level.
“This is the very first programme we are going to have where all ministries are going to participate with respect to their sectors at the parish level. You may think that production is under agriculture only but you need water, energy for processing of products and roads to transfer products to the markets” said Magyezi.
Magyezi acknowledged that the new sub-counties and town councils have been allocated inadequate funds in the current budget and prayed that Parliament increase their budget in the Financial Year 2023/2024.
“The money which has been given is inadequate, but now that the new units are coded and thus recognised, in the future, we shall have a budget. We have made a request in the next year’s budget that each parish gets a Shs 100m” Magyezi said.
Under this arrangement, PDM groups will form in groups of 10-30 persons that will select a unique and profitable enterprise. Groups will be required to elect leaders who will join other leaders to create interim leadership at Parish level. These group leaders join with others in the Parish to form a Sacco on behalf of other members. They later open accounts, two family members can request a loan, and get approved by Parish committee.
The programme is expected to alleviate 3’5 million households out of subsistence farming to a money economy.
The government has engaged in various similar programs bfoere that have reportedly reduced Poverty levels by over 50 percent. They include Entandikkwa, Poverty alleviation plan PAP,NAADS, Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) ,Youth Livelihood Program(YLP), Bonna Bagagawale among others. Rapheal Magyezi pdm groups of 10-30 villsge households poor, 2 family members join with others to form a group , elects leaders, join other groups and elect leaders to represent them at parish level, vetted app;y,submit and approved
