There are 10,595 parishes and 70,626 villages in Uganda as per the statistics from the Electoral Commission and the Ministry of Local Government, respectively.
By Milton Emmy Akwam
Kampala – Sept. 14, 2022: Some experts have criticized the Parish Development Model (PDM) as a wastage of resources and funds by the government.
The experts are now being joined by the ordinary citizens after millions of shillings meant for PDM implementation are being misused and embezzled by corrupt local government leaders across the country.
On Tuesday, I asked the State Minister for economic monitoring in the Office of the President, Beatrice Akello Akori about PDM and if the program will yield fruits.
“You know, beginning a program is not easy at times. Even at home, for those who have just gotten married, starting a new life as a couple is not easy and that does not mean you abandon each other. You get the challenges and correct them and that is why we are researching PDM,” she answered.
“According to me, this Model is very good only that we need to find out where the challenges are and how can we overcome these challenges, and that is what we are interested in as a Directorate,” she added.
Akori, also the Agago District Woman MP, said they want to know where the challenges in this PDM are and whether we will overcome some of them.
“Money now will be channeled directly to those parish SAACOs, it will not pass through the district and the sub-county. We need to intensify the training of the leadership of the SAACOs and communities to embrace this PDM.”
PDM is one of the many government programs like Emyooga and the Women Entrepreneurship Programme introduced with the major aim to improve the livelihoods of the local people.
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However, many people say they have not benefited from a single one of the many programs, leaving the poverty gap in the same mode.
The Minister (MP) cited her district where most of the communities normally say ‘we don’t benefit from the government program; there are only a few categories of people who normally benefit.
“I feel PDM is a solution because it is going directly to the village, going directly to the parish where these villagers are,” she emphasized in the Tuesday interview.
“To me, I feel even if this PDM has challenges, those challenges will be addressed and it will succeed like other government programs.”