President Museveni has reiterated the call to the public to embrace the Parish development model which he insists must be a success to facilitate the socio-economic transformation agenda.
Museveni who addressed parliament today lashed out at people he called parasites who are strategizing to feast on the PDM money sent out to parishes. He disclosed corruption tendencies which he has discovered in PDM.
In his special address to parliament today at Kololo ceremonial grounds, President Yoweri Museveni lambasted government officials who are frustrating the Parish Development Model. He called them parasites who want to feast on the PDM cash. He referred to his recent tour in the Acholi sub-region where he discovered a lot of anomalies that are impeding the takeoff of the PDM.
The President elaborated that in several PDM Saccos in Acholi, people were asked to pay money to be registered as members of the Saccos while in other areas Saccos are not extending loans that are below one million shillings.
The government allocated 1tn the 10,594 PDM saccos in the current financial year but some saccos are still struggling with preparations. Museveni observed that there are many weaknesses in the operations of the Parish Model and vowed to use all avenues to unearth and flash out corrupt officials which are making it difficult for people to benefit from the PDM.
Museveni has promised to visit all regions of the country to revive the spirit of PDM and scale up public awareness to ensure that the program lives up to the expectations of the people. He reiterated that the PDM is the magic bullet to Uganda’s socio-economic transformation and it must work
Although the public has been complaining about the delayed release of PDM funds to intended beneficiaries as the money remains stuck on account, Museveni noted that government will not lose sleep over that because it intends to protect public funds from getting into the wrong hands. He emphasized that it’s better for money to stay on account instead of going to saccos which are not well-profiled.
Meanwhile President Yoweri Museveni has directed the Statehouse comptroller to provide 5m each Shilling to families of four students at Kasaka Secondary School in Gomba District who perished in a fatality after a sino truck driver rammed into school buildings on Tuesday. He also directed families of the 14 students who are nursing injuries from the terrible accident to be given 1M each.
The president has tasked the prime minister and attorney general to fast-track the compensation of the 4 children who died in Kasaka secondary school and the over 14 that are nursing wounds in Gomba district.