Why Bugisu civil servants are accused of failing PDM

President Museveni launched PDM for poverty reduction on February 26, 2022, at Kibuku District headquarters.

The goal is to increase household incomes and improve quality of life of Ugandans with a specific focus on the total transformation of the subsistence households into the money economy.

The Resident District Commissioner (RCC) of Bulambuli, Mr Stanly Bayole, said about 15 civil servants have been arrested in the district for receiving kickbacks from the beneficiaries.

Mr Bayole added that two of them are currently on remand at Mutufu government prison in Sironko District.

 “We have also recovered the misused money from the accused officials and other officials are currently under police investigation over misuse of PDM funds,” Mr Bayole said on Saturday.

Bulambuli District received Shs13b and they have disbursed Shs12b to all 12,826 beneficiaries. The district, which is standing at 96 percent, according to Mr Bayole, has a bank balance of about Shs539m. 

Police records at Namisindwa Central Police Station indicate that about 28 civil servants and PDM officials have been arrested in the district on allegations of corruption.

The Namisindwa Deputy Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Ms Juliet Solome Namara, said: “We have made several arrests and we have so far recovered the stolen money from the culprits. We are still investigating some of them.”

Police records also indicate that the authorities in Namisindwa District have so far recovered Shs5.7m from the accused officials, who had misappropriated more than Shs7.3m. 

According to the findings contained in Namisindwa District PDM Status report, Mr Bernard Watuwa, the parish chief and operator of a secretarial bureau in Bumityero Sub-County, was found charging PDM beneficiaries Shs5,300 to print and photocopy three pages of payment vouchers from 84 beneficiaries. He was later forced to refunded Shs423,000 he had  extorted.

Police said the accused would also confiscate national identity cards from beneficiaries who refused to give bribes.

Mr Willy Namanda, the parish chief of Bukhabusi, also appeared in court for obtaining money by false pretence.

Police are also currently investigating leaders of Buyaka Sacco for forging signatures. The suspects on bond include Sacco chairman Arron Nakhabala, Sacco secretary Harriet Khauka, Sacco treasurer Jackson Kamuka and LC2 chairman Boas Webombesa.

Others under investigations include LC3 chairperson of Mukhuyu Sub-county Bernard Sitati, chief finance officer Bridget Muyama, Mufutu Parish chief Mary Sekere, and Sacco treasurer Moses Namonyo.

 Preliminary investigations reveal that kickbacks asked from the beneficiaries range from Shs50,000 to Shs200,000.

 The Elgon Regional Police Spokesperson, Mr Rogers Taitika, said the suspects were charged with misuse of office, sabotaging government programmes, and forgery.

 “There is a need to use an iron hand on the civil servants and PDM officials so that they don’t misuse the funds meant to benefit the local people,” he  said.

 Ms Juliet Nambuya, a PDM beneficiary, said they were given Shs30m but were told to first raise Shs3m as a kickback for some officials at the district.

Mr Andrew Wabweni, the Namisindwa district community development officer, said they have forced all Sacco leaders who extorted money from beneficiaries to refund it.

 “Some sub-county chiefs and Sacco leaders have been deceiving beneficiaries that its district leaders who want the money, which is not true,” Mr Wabweni said.

 Mr Imran Muluga, the resident district commissioner of Namisindwa, said since the second phase of PDM cash distribution started, the district has registered uncountable allegations of corruption.

 “The beneficiaries accuse Sacco leaders, community development officers and parish chiefs for reportedly extorting money between Shs30,000 to Shs200,000 from each beneficiary,” Mr Muluga said, applauding the community members to openly reporting cases of corruption.

“The corruption if not fought will derail the PDM programme and we will not achieve the intended objective,” he said.

Mr Jackson Wakwaika, the district chairperson, has cautioned beneficiaries against giving money to Sacco leaders and parish leaders.

“The district is going to use all means to recover all monies which were extorted illegally by parish and sub-county chiefs,” he said.

 The Mbale Resident City Commissioner (RCC), Mr John Rex Aachilla, said locals have raised complaints about the misappropriation of PDM funds, with allegations of fund reduction and irregularities in the distribution of the funds.

 “It has also been discovered that chairpersons of PDM Saccos and loan committees collaborated with some bank staff to manipulate the system, bypassing proper channels and accessing funds without city clerk and bank manager approval,” Mr Aachilla said.

Mbale City has 7,138 beneficiaries and the city received Shs6b in the Financial Year 2022/2023.

 Last year, Mr Simon Maasa, the former Mbale City PDM coordinator, who is also the city production officer, was arrested on orders of Ms Jovrine Kaliisa Kyomukama, the PDM deputy national coordinator, on allegations of misappropriating PDM funds worth Shs8m.

 The leaders in Sironko have also expressed concerns over the poor performance of PDM due to corruption.

The Sironko District Woman Member of Parliament, Ms Florence Nambozo, said civil servants are bent on failing the programme.

“The officials shouldn’t turn the positions they hold into extortionist opportunities but use them to provide better services to the people of Sironko District,” Ms Nambozo said.

 The legislator was speaking during the PDM meeting organised for Budadiri West Constituency, which attracted parish chiefs, sub-county chiefs, town council clerks, community development officers, and extension workers at Buyobo Social Centre.

The Sironko Chief Administrative Officer, Mr Nelson Kirenda, has since warned the civil servants against asking kickbacks from beneficiaries, saying whoever will be found will be disciplined.

“However, the district’s PDM performance has improved from 20 percent as earlier reported, to 75 percent,” he said.

 Sironko District has the highest number of lower local government administrative units, with 42 sub-counties, 224 parishes and close to 1,500 villages in the region and it received Shs2.24b in PDM funds.

 Mr Joseph Mafabi, PDM beneficiary, said some parish chiefs and members of the Parish Development Committees (PDCs) in the district are asking for 30 percent of the money the beneficiaries are supposed to receive.

Game changer

Last year in January, the Finance minister, Mr Matia Kasaija, said the PDM that came into force in 2022 had been touted as the game changer in wealth creation. This is after several initiatives that include the Entandikwa scheme, Bonabagagawale, National Agricultural Advisory Services (Naads), Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) and Emyooga failed to take care of the 39 percent (3.5m households) of Ugandans that remain in subsistence economy.

Mr Kasaija was responding to questions about how the government believes that PDM among other programmes will help the country achieve its projected economic growth at 6 percent in 2023/24 financial year despite the continuous collapse of the global economic outlook.

There are 10,594 parishes or wards in Uganda and in the last financial year, the government recruited parish chiefs and town agents to manage the PDM programme.

Government has proposed a Shs49.9 trillion budget for the financial year 2023/24 but what has been of concern to the legislators who are processing the Budget Framework Paper (BFP) is the projection of economic growth hitting a 6 percent mark while the global economy is likely to slow downwards to about 2.7 percent.

 Under the programme considered by the government as a game changer, each of the beneficiaries borrows Shs1m from the Shs100 million parish revolving fund to invest in selected enterprises such as coffee growing, dairy farming, fish farming, piggery, grains, fruits, beekeeping and poultry, among other ventures.

 The programme aims to move 3.5 million households from the subsistence to the money economy, with the government injecting more than Shs1t every financial year for disbursement across the country.