By Bondry Kilenga
The Kotido District Commercial Officer Francis Obita has decried the rate at which PDM beneficiaries are switching to other enterprises as opposed to those that qualified them to be enlisted for the program.
Under the PDM program launched in February 2022 to move 3.5 million households from the subsistence to the money economy, each beneficiary receives Shs 1 million as a revolving loan payable in two years.
Statistics obtained by Etoil A Karamoja from the office of the District Commercial Officer indicate since 2022, Kotido district has disbursed Shs 17.8 billion to 16,439 households out of the targeted 16, 439.
As per the PDM guidelines, beneficiaries were meant to select enterprises that they deemed lucrative and less labour intensive to enable them generate dividends to be able to pay back the money after a two-year grace period.
However, Obita, said that out of approximately 690 registered enterprises that were funded under the Parish Development Model (PDM), none of them is operating as per the original plan.
He made the statement on Tuesday while addressing district officials, parish chiefs, PDM SACCO leaders during a three-day training workshop on promoting nutrition interventions through PDM program, organised by organized by the Ministry of Local Government with support from the Food Rights Alliance at Ateker Hotel.
According to Obita, while some beneficiaries switched to other enterprises, others used the PDM funds for personal issues, such as paying off debts, school fees, acquisition of household items and alcohol, rather than investing in their designated enterprises.
“We started reaching out to those who benefited from PDM two years ago to assess the performance of their selected enterprises, but what people are doing is totally different from what they had planned to do,” he said.
He explained that “the deviation from the selected enterprises is a clear indicator that the recovery process could turn out to be difficult.
“During the assessment tour, some beneficiaries blamed the volatile markets and harsh weather conditions for their change of the enterprise,” Obita remarked.
Charles Assimwe, a private nutritionist consultant and a key figure in the formulation of the PDM program, attributed change of enterprises by the beneficiaries to lack of expertise.
Assimwe also urged PDM implementers to thoroughly familiarize themselves with all PDM handbooks for effective implementation of all PDM pillars, extending beyond just the component of financial inclusion.
“PDM SACCO leaders, Parish Chiefs, and local government officials have acritical role to play for successful implementation of the program. You should do continuous follow up and monitoring to ensure adherence to their chosen projects”, he reminded the participants.
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