Nakaseke leaders blame underperforming gov’t projects on communication gap
State Minister for Kampala Kabuye Kyofatogabye (2nd R) hands over to Nakaseke authorities 10 motorcycles for the LC3 chairpersons at the Nakaseke District Headquarters in Nakaseke District on Tuesday. PHOTO | DAN WANDERA
A section of leaders in Nakaseke District have blamed the underperformance for some of the government sponsored projects on the mismatch in the information flow and a failing monitoring system.
The leaders cite the ever changing guidelines for the Parish Development Model (PDM) project where the concerned technical persons including the Parish Chiefs who are yet to master the new implementation guidelines, and the failure by government to respond in time when concerns are raised by the beneficiaries of the projects.
“Government tells the farmers that every parish will get Shs17m, but the parishes in Nakaseke are receiving Shs8.5m for the PDM for the financial year closing June 2022. The farmer groups are confused and need a better clarification on the matter,” Mr Fred Rwabirinda, a councilor representing Kinyogoga Sub County in Nakaseke District said during an interview on Tuesday.
“This means that Nakaseke will receive only 50 per cent of the total funds promised as PDM for the financial year ending 2022. While the information given is that the other half would be released in the next Financial Year (FY 2022/2023) by the Ministry of Local government, the beneficiary farmers need clear answers why the money is not as the government announced,” he said.
Mr Enock Nyongole, the Member of Parliament representing Nakaseke North said the information should be disseminated in the right way and at the right time. For the PDM project, Mr Nyongole said the oversight role should be the duty of all the leaders at the different levels.
“We are happy that the government has now come out with the final PDM implementation guidelines. The farmers should be properly guided in the enterprise selection process. The PDM target beneficiary communities should be helped to realise the importance of the money economy and how the PDM can help them get there,” he said.
However, State Minister for Kampala City, Mr Kabuye Kyofatogabye, explained that the reason why President Museveni instructed the Cabinet to join the PDM roll out and sensitization campaign, was to clear the communication gap and ensure that the PDM pillars are clearly explained to the different leaders and the beneficiary communities.
“It is true that clear information flow builds confidence in the service delivery system. It is also true that there has been a mismatch in some of the information regarding the implementation of the PDM. We shall now have the parish based information management system to successfully deliver the four-year PDM programme,” he said.
Unlike several of the past and running government initiated projects, Mr Kyofatogabye said the PDM is about production and productivity.
Nakaseke District has 71 parishes spread in 10 sub counties and five town councils.
Districts across the country are currently conducting a data collection exercise in all villages that make up various parishes and the data collected will later inform the implementation process of PDM.
About PDM
PDM is an initiative where the government plans to give at least Shs 100m to each of the 10,694 parishes, starting the forthcoming Financial Year 2022/23 as a revolving fund, which aims at springing the nearly 39 percent of households from subsistence economy to commercial production.
A total of Shs1.059 trillion was approved by Parliament for the programme.
PDM encompasses seven pillars including production, infrastructure and economic services, financial inclusion and social services. The others are community data (Community Information System), governance and administration and mindset change.
