Museveni issues new directive on Parish Development Model

In a speech to the NRM parliamentary caucus on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, which is currently on retreat at the National Leadership Institute (NALI) in the Kyankwanzi area, the President said people who borrow money from the PDM should not be pressured to pay it back right away; instead, they should be granted more time.

During his recent presidential travels, he said he had heard a number of worries and complaints from the residents.

Museveni, who was in the company of the First Lady, Janet Museveni, asserted that he had overheard a lot of worries and grievances from the locals during the most recent presidential tours.

"Crops take time to mature because PDM is mostly focused on agriculture. After 24 months, let the borrowers begin making payments," he said.

According to Museveni, the borrower has the option of paying the loan in full all at once or over the course of 24 to 36 months.

He added, "The aim is for our people to thrive, not to grow the SACCO fund. Therefore, don't merely focus on getting financing to expand."

The parish development strategy is an enhancement over Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), which gave people grants in exchange for a one-time injection of seed money into SACCOs.

He urged MPs to always provide the most straightforward guidance to residents on these programmes.

He underscored the importance of leaders communicating well with ordinary people. According to Museveni, the elite ‘Abasoma’ previously in Ankole, for example, did not care about the ordinary people; although some of them were not poor, they lived separate lives.

"This has been the main issue between the aristocratic 'Abasoma' and commoners. I noticed while on my trips that the 'abasoma' did not care, and the few who did not know how to properly interact with them in the language they comprehended," he said.

Additionally, he denounced corruption, which he claimed continues to be a significant obstacle to the implementation of these core programmes. In several instances when some RDCs were requesting payment, I found outright corruption.

The President requested that the PDM secretariat refrain from intimidating locals as they establish SACCOs, using the Gulu area as an illustration. According to the president, individuals there hurried to establish SACCOs without following the proper procedures.