Prime
Govt to reduce intervals of releasing PDM cash
Government taunts PDM as an effective wealth creation model that will progressively increase household incomes and lift Ugandans out of poverty. Photo / File
What you need to know:
- This will be a shift from the previous practice where cash releases were done at least thrice every financial year
The Ministry of Finance will limit Parish Development Model cash releases to just twice a year to ensure proper utilisation.
This will be a shift from the previous practice where cash releases were done at least thrice every financial year.
Government taunts PDM as an effective wealth creation model that will progressively increase household incomes and lift Ugandans out of poverty.
Speaking at a dialogue on the implementation of PDM organised by the National NGO Forum in Kampala, the Ministry of Finance director of financial management Godfrey Ssemugooma, said government will “begin releasing PDM cash only twice … in January and June [of] every financial year,” noting that the shift seeks to ensure that beneficiaries have ample time to utilise funds.
PDM seeks to enhance household incomes by aligning Ugandans towards supporting channels through which value addition can be improved, private sector capacity strengthened, stock and quality of productive infrastructure enhanced and productivity and well-being of the population lifted.
In June, President Museveni said all adult Ugandans must engage in wealth creation by participating in commercial agriculture, manufacturing and artisanship, services, and ICT.
So far, at least Shs2.4 trillion has been extended to 1.16 million Ugandan households through PDM, according to Finance Minister Matia Kasaija.
Mr Cyprian Chillanyang, the Ministry of Local Government commissioner for planning, said local governments, as the implementors across the country, had put in place structures needed to make PDM a success, but also indicated that repayment of PDM cash, which is a revolving fund, will begin in 2026, noting that government will, between September and October, evaluate all the 10,594 beneficiary Saccos to get a clear picture of how PDM cash is being used.
Some people have previously expressed skepticism about PDM’s potential to improve household income.
However, Mr Vincent Tumusiime Bamugaya, the Office of the President directorate of socio-economic monitoring and research, said this can be sorted by understanding what we are getting right and what [we are] getting wrong.”
“We need planning for the community to be harmonized and be implemented in an integrated way because we want to see families graduating from subsistence to the money economy,” he said.
