President Museveni has emphasized that under the Parish Development Model (PDM), every household in Uganda must engage in a wealth creation activity in order to get out of poverty.
According to the President, the PDM welcomes all individuals across all sectors of wealth creation, especially commercial agriculture, where every Ugandan should participate and transition from subsistence to money economy.
The President made the remarks on Monday while addressing a meeting about the Parish Development Model at Lusenke village, Kome ward, Kanoni Town Council, Gomba East Constituency, Gomba district, where he visited Ms. Namutebi Deborah and her husband, Godfrey Lubega, who are PDM beneficiaries involved in poultry and animal husbandry.
“I want to congratulate Namutebi and her dear husband for waking up and using the PDM money well to get out of poverty. Every household must have a wealth creation activity. Once you have wealth in your
home, others will be added unto you,” President Museveni said.
He urged the population to differentiate between development such as roads, electricity, schools, and health centers and wealth/poverty. He said development is for all people while wealth/poverty is personal.
President Museveni, who officially kicked off his Greater Mpigi tour to assess the Parish Development Model progress in the area, gave an example of the road from Mbarara and Masaka to Kampala through to Soroti, which has been tarmacked since 1963 and has been reconstructed twice, but poor people still reside beside it.
“Development has been there for 60 years, but people are still poor,” the president emphasized.
“By the time I came to Kisozi in 1990, there was nothing here, no road nor electricity—but I passed here and went to Kisozi because I had seen wealth there. By the time the development—a tarmac road and
electricity—came, I was already a rich man,” he added.
He said in 1995, he moved around the country sensitizing the population about wealth creation and also initiated support programs such as Entandikwa at the sub-county level, plan for modernisation of agriculture (PMA), the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) initiative, Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), all in the spirit of waking up Ugandans to get out of poverty.
In February 2022, the Parish Development Model was launched specifically to transform subsistence households into the money economy.
Every financial year, the government injects Shs 100 million into each parish in Uganda, which is borrowed by households through the parish Saccos.
President Museveni likened one Namutebi to a good seed in the Bible that fell on fertile ground to yield fruit.
“I want to thank Namutebi for becoming a good seed that fell on fertile soil and bore fruit. That's Namutebi and her family. I want to thank her because she has become an example for others who will be learning from her,” Museveni said.
He also promised to help purchase three acres of land for Ms. Namutebi to expand her wealth creation enterprise. He also boosted her with Shs. 15 million, of which Shs 12 million is for a tuk-tuk- a motorized three- wheeled vehicle to aid in transportation, and Shs 3.5 million to extend electricity to her house.
The president also gave Shs 1 million to each of the ten PDM beneficiaries who attended the meeting.
On the other hand, President Museveni pledged to contribute Shs 50 million to Gomba Football Club ahead of their preparations for the Masaza Cup competition, an annual football tournament comprising all Buganda counties.
Ms. Namutebi thanked President Museveni for considering and extending Shs. 1 million to the poor people to get out of poverty.
Ms. Namutebi, a member of Koome Kanoni PDM SACCO, in the poultry enterprises group A, now boasts 300 broiler chickens and 15 goats.
She informed President Museveni that by the time she got the Shs 1 million PDM cash, she had already deposited Shs. 500,000 in the Finance Trust Bank to enable her to acquire a loan and had constructed a poultry house with the ambition of setting up a poultry farm.
“When I received the Shs 1 million, I abandoned the idea of acquiring the loan. On poultry, I added goats. I started with four; I now have 15 goats. Those who think Shs 1 million is little do not know how to use it,” Ms. Namutebi told President Museveni, adding that she’s now able to educate her children and sustain the family.
Ms. Namutebi’s dream is to expand her poultry enterprise to 2,000 chickens and also acquire a milling machine to produce poultry feed, which will benefit other members.
The Deputy Secretary General of the NRM,Rose Namayanja
Nsereko welcomed President Museveni to Gomba and thanked him for adding Shs 1 trillion to the national budget to extend the PDM program to more Ugandans.
Greater Mpigi, comprising the districts of Mpigi, Gomba, and Butambala, has a total population of 672,326 people according to the 2024 UBOS figures, distributed in 5 constituencies, 25 sub-counties, divisions, and town councils, 154 parishes, and 964 villages.
To date, a total of Shs 33.429 billion has been allocated to the 130 PDM SACCOs across all three districts, with Mpigi receiving the highest amount (Shs 14.400 billion), followed by Gomba (Shs 12.600 billion) and Butambala which has received a capitalization amount of Shs 6.428 billion because they have the lowest number of parishes in the region.
Earlier, President Museveni visited Rashida Namubiru, a PDM beneficiary in Kasaka village, Gombe Town Council, Butambala district and Hajji Mohammad Zziwa, an established farmer located in Selinya B Village, Musa Parish, Kamengo sub-county, Mawokota North constituency in Mpigi district. Hajji Zziwa has a poultry enterprise of 2,000 layers, coffee, bananas, and four cows, all on 5 acres of land, and
employs eight people.