Pakwach leaders decry diversion of PDM funds to procure woofers
Members of Faluonga PDM Sacco in Alwi sub county Pakwach district. PHOTO URN
Pakwach, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Local leaders in Pakwach district have condemned the move by a number of Parish Development Model (PDM) beneficiaries to divert the funds to procure household items instead of investing in the selected enterprises.
A report by the district indicates that at least 26 percent of the disbursed funds have been diverted by the beneficiaries to procure woofers, a loudspeaker for playing music and mattresses. Others have reportedly used the funds to pay school fees for their children and relatives contrary to the selected enterprise.
Moses RK Dalili, the Pakwach district Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) disclosed that they discovered the gross diversion of the PDM funds following an internal investigation. Dalili tasked the district production department officials to ensure they carry enterprise appraisal of the PDM SACCOs to stop such diversions.
In February 2022, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni launched the Parish Development Model (PDM), a programme to lift about 3.5 million households in Uganda out of poverty by transforming them from subsistence to a money economy.
The model is a strategy for organizing and delivering public and private sector interventions for wealth creation and employment generation at the parish level as the lowest economic planning unit.
However, Paul Eseru, the Pakwach Resident District Commissioner (RDC) explains that his office has launched a crackdown on PDM beneficiaries who have diverted the funds for personal use instead of investing in the selected enterprise.
Razack Mwanza, an operative at the District Internal Security Office condemned the act and advised to desist from the practice of misusing the funds which are meant for investment in the selected enterprises.
Since its inception, Pakwach district has so far disbursed over 500 million shillings to beneficiaries under the Parish Development Programme according to records obtained from the district production department.
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