NEBBI POLITICIANS DOMINATE PDM BENEFICIARIES LISTS

BY PATRICK OKABA

Nebbi. The Parish Development Model (PDM) beneficiaries in Nebbi district will have to wait a little longer to receive their money as politicians who sneaked into the beneficiaries’ lists are screened out.

The launch of the disbursement of PDM money in Nebbi district was launched early this month amidst excitement from the beneficiaries.

According to the PDM district Focal Point Person Walter Wabineno most of the PDM beneficiaries’ lists sent to the bank by the parish chiefs were dominated by councilors, civil servants and some LC3 chairpersons in the district.

Wabineno said that the bank has halted the process of dishing out PDM cash to the beneficiaries, to first verify the irregularities detected on the submitted lists. 

“We are weeding out the ghost politicians and civil servants who wanted to access the PDM money through shortcuts”, Wabineno said.   

He further said that before the money is given out to the beneficiaries, they will undergo training on book keeping and financial literacy.

However, the youth chairman Nebbi district Savior Rwothomio has blamed the PDM secretariat for shunning youth leaders in the districts for easy identification of the rightful beneficiaries of the project.

 “In most cases government projects fail to impact positively when the beneficiary’s protocols are hijacked by the civil servants and politicians who want to have the lion’s share in the project rather than the rightful beneficiaries,” he observed.  

One of the PDM beneficiaries Charles Kermu says he is saddened by the delays in the disbursement of PDM money caused by politicians who have personal interests in the project. He said that the anomalies registered will affect the politicians in the 2026 election.

He adds that, the PDM funds should be released to enable the beneficiaries plan for the rainy season. He says that majority of the beneficiaries are farmers who need the money to start planning for the planting season.

 “We have started seeing challenges at the launch of pdm cash disbursement because we received messages on our phones but the money can’t be withdrawn from the account”, Kermu said.

 The RDC Nebbi district Robert Abak has asked both politicians and technocrats to keep a distance from PDM money and leave it to the right beneficiaries in a bid to eliminate poverty from the poor Ugandans.  He says that investigations have kicked off into the anomalies reported in the PDM.

“For ghost PDM beneficiaries, investigations are ongoing, and arrests will be made for those found guilty.  PDM is to bail out the poor from the poverty prone zones,” Abak said.

Last week during the parliamentary address, President Museveni warned that all those who will be found to have squandered PDM funds will be dealt with.