By: Ireen Twongirwe
Worth Noting:
- Some parishes don’t have parish chiefs and this will lead to mismanagement of funds. More so Parish chiefs lack capacity to handle the model. Therefore they need capacity building to manage the flow of funds from the ministry of finance to the consolidated accounts at the parish level.
- Further, there is need to first track the recruitment of parish chiefs, train them about the model and make sure that there are in position to serve the communities at large with transparency. More so, there is also need to populise PDM so that the vulnerable, marginalized from the grassroots so that they know what it means, what are the implications, benefits and the way of paying back. In this it will give them confidence and initiate themselves in the implementation of the model.
Last week the president of Uganda launched the parish Development Model (PDM) which main objective is to eradicate poverty in local communities especially at the parish level. It’s also important to note that The Parish Development Model (PDM) is the last mile strategy for service delivery by Government of Uganda for improving incomes and welfare of all Ugandans at the household level.
Furthermore, the purpose of the PDM is to deepen the decentralization process, improve
household incomes, enable inclusive, sustainable, balanced and equitable socio-economic transformation, and increase accountability at local levels.
It’s noteworthy, that the goal of the PDM is to increase household incomes and improve quality of life of Ugandans with a specific focus on the total transformation of the subsistence households into the money economy, as well as eradication of poverty and vulnerability in Uganda.
It’s important to note that there are over 10,594 parishes in the country and each parish is supposed to receive Shillings17 million in the current financial year to start the implementation of the programme. According to the plan as of last week on Tuesday, each parish will receive Shillings 100 million with effect from the next financial year. But it’s clear that this money won’t be enough for the per parish.
There are some gaps in the PDM which include the following,
Some parishes don’t have parish chiefs and this will lead to mismanagement of funds. More so Parish chiefs lack capacity to handle the model. Therefore they need capacity building to manage the flow of funds from the ministry of finance to the consolidated accounts at the parish level.
Further, there is need to first track the recruitment of parish chiefs, train them about the model and make sure that there are in position to serve the communities at large with transparency. More so, there is also need to populise PDM so that the vulnerable, marginalized from the grassroots so that they know what it means, what are the implications, benefits and the way of paying back. In this it will give them confidence and initiate themselves in the implementation of the model.
It’s also important to note that 100 million shillings is not enough per parish. If at all they can be allocate some funds for the proper implementation of the model and ensure that there is transparency.
How vulnerable women need to benefit from the model.
In my own opinion, for the PDM to benefit the vulnerable women, some funds under PDM should be invested in green economy such clean energy which we are sure that since women are the bread givers, they will be saved from the burden of collecting firewood, using dirty fossil fuels like oil, paraffin for lighting and paying bills for electricity . There is also need to train vulnerable women, youth, marginalized to learn how to make briquettes which can also be a source of income to their families in order to benefit all the groups as an alternative to fossil fuels.
More so, government leaders especially at local level should invest in installation of solar panels that can supply the whole village with electricity. This will help in social economic transformation of the communities’ hence protecting environment from climate change impacts.
Government leaders at local levels need to train small farmers with better methods of farming which are environmental friendly to increase on the food production hence fighting to achieve zero hunger in local communities.
In conclusion, PDM should focus on promoting green economy activities such as tourism, agriculture, clean energy such as off grid solar, since there are the major sources of revenue to the government and employs the majority of youth, women and men.
Further, policies, laws and guidelines for PDM, need to be emphasized and followed to increase transparency and accountability of the funds in the parish model.
For God and my country,
Ireen Twongirwe,
Executive Director, Women for Green Economy Movement Uganda. (WoGEM)
Xinhua Media