Lands Minister Judith Nabakooba who also doubles as the in-charge of Parish Development Model (PDM) in greater Mubende has set fresh guidelines to be followed by PDM beneficiaries in the region.
In the new arrangement, beneficiaries will have to first be vetted before they receive the money on their accounts.
“I want the leaders to come back on the ground and call whoever registered for PDM money to verify whether they are permanent residents of Mityana. I do not want to receive more cases of people stealing government money under this kind of scenario,” she warned.
The minister who was attending a fundraiser of a classroom block for Naama Church of Uganda Primary School in Mityana Municipality revealed that in a number of reports she has received, a section of local leaders are secretly including people from Kampala on the list of PDM beneficiaries in Mityana and thereafter share the money amongst themselves.
“The money is meant for permanent residents of Mityana. Give the cash to the expected beneficiaries as the program is meant to be,” Nabakooba emphasized .
She, however, encouraged locals who have already received the Shs 1m each to utilize the money well by carrying out the framing activities as highlighted in the guidelines and have the responsibility of paying back after the grace period of two years elapses.
The minister assured the residents of Mityana and greater Mubende region that this particular government program will elevate the living standards of the beneficiaries who are the financially challenged through agriculture which is their major economic activity.
The residents also reported to the minister some bad practices of the local leaders who even hide from the residents . According to Mr Jude Ssali, one of the residents who registered for PDM cash, leaders keep tossing people around when it comes to receiving the moneyto an extent of declining their calls and often time hide away from people.
Ms Nambatya, the leader responsible for this money explained why there are delays in disbursement of the PDM cash in Mityana –noting that in some cases the groups are slow in submitting all requirements needed for clearance to receive the money .
“Some groups have about 30 members which make them hard to clear in time since each of them is required to submit their details thus delaying the whole group,” she said.
Naama C.O.U Primary School is a government aided school started by Mr Yekosofati Kwerigira in 1984. It has one classroom block that houses the office of the head teacher.
Nabakooba contributed Shs.2 million towards the project and promised the school that she will seek for more support from the ministry of Education and Sports.
Ms Hawa Nakalyowa, the headmistress asked the government to build for them a new structure to replace it with the existing structure that is in a sorry dilapidated state.
“Our teachers share the same latrine with the children and yet our numbers have increased up to 473 yet we are still operating from the same building set up 38 years ago. We have no staff quarters at school and the existing structure lacks beam and enough windows,” she revealed.
