Review PDM, says Museveni’s senior advisor on economic affairs 

Government should review Parish Development Model (PDM) and consider channeling the funds through the existing Saccos which may collapse any time due to cash starvation, President Museveni’s senior advisor on economic affairs has said.
Prof Ephraim Kamuntu said the existing Saccos that are already operating with billions of money stand a better chance to manage the PDM funds better than new ones that are set up amid a lot of uncertainties and challenges.
"If the line minister Mr Raphael Magyezi can bring such proposal to cabinet, I will support him. The whole programme needs a revisit if we are to move the 39 percent of our population into the money economy," said the former Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs while officiating at the AGM of Kyamuhunga People's Sacco at Kyamuhunga catholic parish in Bushenyi District on Saturday.

According to him, PDM is an economic strategy that Mr Museveni’s government is using to allow citizens participate fully in the liberation of the economy as it will help the country stay in the middle income status which the president who has been in power since 1986, announced late last year.
Mr Magyezi, who is the Minister for Local Government told this reporter through a phone call that channeling the funds into the already established Saccos as proposed by Mr Museveni’s advisor was a good idea that needs to be considered by the National Planning Authority (NPA) and the cabinet.
"It's a very good idea. Prof Kamuntu is a senior member of government and an economist. I entirely agree with him but it needs to be passed by cabinet and aParliament before being adopted," Mr Magyezi told this reporter.
Mr John Bosco Atwijukire, the Sacco’s general manager said some of their customers complain of not getting the loans, but blamed this on lack of liquidity.

Mr Joram Tibasiimwa, the western Uganda Older Persons representative in Parliament said PDM will likely not achieve its intended objectives, partly because the implementers do not know what to do on ground.

"It was implemented very quickly before even sensitising the people who were going to implement it. They are not sure what they should do and how to do it," Mr Tibasiimwa, a member of the ruling National Resistance Movement said.
President Museveni who is the champion of the programme criticized the complexity of the terms used in the PDM pillars, arguing that they are confusing and hard to understand by both local leaders and beneficiaries.
Mr Museveni noted that he had personally, in a past cabinet meeting, stressed his concerns that the locals may not be able to understand clearly the seven pillars of PDM. 
Speaking at a rally at Kaunda Paly Grounds in Gulu City Friday in a mix of both English and Acholi dialects, the president said the seven pillars of PDM haven’t been clearly understood by the leaders in the region.
The seven pillars of PDM are Agriculture (Production, Storage, Processing, and Marketing), Infrastructure and Economic Services, Financial Inclusion, Social Services, Mindset change, Parish Based Management Information System, and Governance and Administration.

During the rally, several people raised complaints of the gaps in the implementation of the programme which has left locals unable to benefit. This was after an official at the PDM secretariat made submissions on the implementation of PDM.
Different speakers told the President that whereas the PDM idea is good, its implementation was being affected by corrupt civil servants at the district, city and sub-county levels.