By Ambrose Kweronda
www.mknewslink.com
In Kabale—
The State Minister for Finance in charge of Microfinance, Shartsi Musherure Kutesa, has revealed that the government is struggling to recover Parish Development Model, PDM, funds, with only about five billion shillings returned so far out of the 4.3 trillion shillings disbursed to beneficiaries across the country.
Minister Musherure made the revelation this during the first day of a two-day Kigezi regional Local Government Budget Consultations meeting for the financial year 2027/2028, organized by the Ministry of Finance at Agaba Centre in Kabale Municipality.
The consultations are being held under the theme, “Full Monetization of Uganda’s Economy through Commercial Agriculture, Industrialization, Expanding and Broadening Services, Digital Transformation and Market Access.”
Musherure said the low recovery rate presents a major challenge to the sustainability of the PDM programme, which was designed to provide affordable financing to households and enable them to engage in income-generating activities.
She explained that the PDM funds are intended to operate as revolving loans, meaning that beneficiaries are expected to repay the money so that it can be lent to other members of their communities.
The Minister attributed part of the repayment challenge to inadequate understanding among some beneficiaries, saying there is still a misconception that the money was distributed as a government grant.
She called for continuous sensitization of beneficiaries and community members on the purpose of PDM funds, urging local leaders and technical officers to take responsibility for ensuring that beneficiaries understand the repayment requirements.
The Rukiga District LCV Chairperson, Simon Mutebi Rwamagyenda, also called on local leaders and technical staff to strengthen efforts aimed at mobilizing beneficiaries to repay the funds.
Rwamagyenda said local leaders should work together with technical officers and PDM structures to carry out community sensitization through public meetings, commonly known as barazas, as well as radio programmes.
He said increased sensitization would help address misconceptions that PDM funds are political handouts and encourage beneficiaries to treat the money as a loan that must be repaid.
Rwamagyenda further noted that proper recovery of the funds would allow other households to access the revolving financing and use it to improve their livelihoods.
According to Robert Sendegeya, a member of the PDM Secretariat, the government has so far invested 4.3 trillion shillings in the programme, which has been implemented across 10,589 parishes in the country.
Sendegeya explained that beneficiaries were given a two-year grace period before beginning repayment of the funds through their respective Parish Development Model SACCOs.
He said households that received funds during the initial PDM rollout in the 2022/2023 financial year are now expected to begin repaying their loans.