Amolatar district local government leaders on August 1 launched the disbursement of Parish Development Model (PDM) funds under second phase.
The expected disbursement amount is shs 8.5 billion. CAO of Amolatar, Paul Samuel Mbwiiba, warned various SACCO leaders who had collected money from beneficiaries in the name of processing information to return it to the owners.
He also urged SAACOs that had changed their leaders to change the signatory in order to access the funds.
According to CAO Mbiiwa, 44 of 84 SACCOs distributed funds to non-beneficiaries during the most recent PDM funds disbursement.
He added that 37 of the 44 have now been approved for funding. He encouraged the remaining seven to contact the police for clearance.
Immaculate Akello, the Amolatar district PDM focal point person, urged SACCO leaders to follow the guidelines.
She also asked chairpersons to stop collecting money from beneficiaries, stating that everything is free of charge.
She advised that the names of the beneficiaries be displayed before receiving money.
She also urged SACCO leaders and parish chiefs not to refer beneficiaries for mobile money transactions and instead use banks because they are cheaper.
Senior commercial officer of Amolatar Kella Teddy Ojok requested that SACCOs with old chairpersons change their signatures, revealing that without them, there would be no access to money.
She also stated that no additional funds will be provided to beneficiaries who received less than shs1 million in the initial phase.
Geoffery Ocen, LC5, urged SACCO leaders not to deny people money simply because they are poor and believe they will be unable to repay it.
Ocen said the PDM money is for the most poor persons in the villages.
He warned people who were using people’s national identity cards without their permission to stop.
Bonniface Pule, Amolatar’s deputy RDC, urged SACCO chairpersons and parish chiefs not to repeat the mistakes made when distributing funds in the previous cycle.
He requested that leaders perform rather than shame the government.
According to the deputy RDC, Amolatar has recovered shs30 million from unscrupulous individuals who obtained the PDM money.
Sensitisation and monitoring will continue to prevent mistakes from the previous disbursement, he stated.
Pule urged the beneficiaries to use their money for life-changing ventures rather than spending it on things that would keep them poor.
Over shs1.4 trillion had already been distributed nationwide under PDM by December 2023, according to Raphael Magezi, the minister of local government.
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