HOUSEHOLDS IN KAMPALA TO START ACCESSING PDM MONEY NEXT MONTH

Kampala City households are to start accessing Parish Development Model (PDM) funds before the end of November.

This has been revealed by the State Minister for Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs, Kabuye Kyofatogabye.

In this financial year 2022/2023, each parish is expected to receive UGX 100 million for disbursement through Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations (SACCOS).

“Each of the approved Sacco in Kampala will receive UGX 25m each quarter for this financial year and the next financial year 2023/2024. Money for this quarter has been released and will be on the accounts of the Saccos by end of next week,” Kyofatogabye said.

The minister said this on Friday, during a sensitization and training meeting for Ward Administrators and LCII chairpersons held at City Hall.

The parish Revolving fund is a capitalization grant from the government to SACCOs meant for lending to viable income-generating activities in the production, processing, marketing, and storage of agricultural products.

 “We are very sure by the close of this year we will have released all the UGX 100m per parish,” Kyofatogabye said.

Kampala has 99 benefiting parishes and each parish is required to organize an Annual General Meeting (AGM) to help formalize the SACCOs as a requirement for members to access money.

“I have given them up to November 20, 2022 to ensure all Saccos have held AGMs and elected people who will be signatories for the money. The money will only be accessed after the Saccos have had the AGM,” Kyofatogabye said.

A total of 97 Saccos have been registered in Kampala.

Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has recruited 99 Ward Administrators on a two-year renewable contract to support the implementation of the program.

To enable the smooth implementation of the program, KCCA has embarked on a two-week intensive training for all Ward Administrators and other PDM leaders in the city.

Dorothy Kisaka the KCCA Executive Director said this kind of training is aimed at streamlining the PDM operations and furthering the skills of Ward Adminstrators.

“Many districts have had problems with the money and we don’t want to make such mistakes. These engagements are to help implement the program smoothly,” Kisaka said.

She revealed that Ward administrators, are key in the success of PDM since they are on ground and always interacting with the beneficiaries.

“It is important that Ward Administrators know their role. If there are any challenges we need to have them addressed to avoid getting problems,” Kisaka said.

She assured the city dwellers that KCCA is dedicated and working hard to make sure PDM succeeds in Kampala.

She asked Ward Administrators to observe ethical code of conduct and work closely with stakeholders, Parish Development Committees so that the program is successful.

The PDM program, which was launched by President Museveni in February, aims to lift 17.5 million Ugandans in 3.5 million households out of poverty through the total transformation of the subsistence households into the money economy.

The program is government’s latest drive towards poverty alleviation.