The Minister of Finance Permanent Secretary, Ramathan Ggoobi has said some beneficiaries of the Parish Development Model are using the cash for sports betting among other ineligible activities.
“It has been brought to our attention that some beneficiaries have diverted PDM funds to buy household items, engage in sports betting and other ineligible expenditure,” Ggoobi said on Friday as he announced the released of funds by government for the second quarter of the financial year.
Beneficiaries who are registered under saccos are each supposed to receive shs1 million as part of the Parish Development Model to use to invest in agriculture and pay back later.
Ggoobi on Friday said as of June, 30, 2023, all 10585 saccos had received shs100 million each and disbursements from the sacco accounts to beneficiaries now stands at 63%.
He however asked district leadership and responsible officers to ensure proper monitoring.
“You should ensure that PDM beneficiaries utilize the funds for the intended purpose and all beneficiaries must have national IDs and are properly registered on the PDM information system to eliminate risks of multiple borrowing and ease tracking of beneficiaries,” Ggoobi said.
There have been reports of extortion by officials in charge of Parish Development Model by asking members of the public to pay some money before getting PDM cash.
In other incidents, instead of getting shs1 million, beneficiaries have seen the money chopped .
Speaking on Friday, Ggoobi admitted there are many cases of extortion reported.
“Issues of extortion and bribe seeking from PDM beneficiaries and change of lists by replacing eligible beneficiaries with ineligible ones are widely reported. All accounting officers must ensure that the communities are sensitized that the parish revolving fund and associated processes are free of charge and that perpetrators of these vices are halted and apprehended.”
The Ministry of Finance Permanent Secretary said delays in disbursement of funds by commercial banks have been reported, noting that in this regard, government is working on a mobile money solution to address the challenge.
“New banking arrangements will also be communicated soon to ease access of funds to beneficiaries that are far from the banking infrastructure.”