By Haron Okwir
Otuke, Uganda | The leadership of Otuke District has issued a firm warning to implementers of the Parish Development Model (PDM), cautioning them against extorting money from beneficiaries and engaging in favoritism that could derail the purpose of the government’s flagship poverty alleviation program.
This call was made during a PDM stakeholders’ meeting held on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, at the Otuke District Council Hall.
The meeting brought together key players in the program’s execution, including Community Development Officers (CDOs), Sub-County and Parish Chiefs, Town Agents, Extension Workers, IT staff, and pillar heads.
The Otuke District Chairperson, Francis Abola, who is also eyeing the Otuke East parliamentary seat, expressed concern over reports indicating that some PDM leaders in various sub-counties were allegedly demanding money from beneficiaries in exchange for access to the program funds.
He issued a strong warning, stating that such acts would not be tolerated under his watch.
Abola also pointed out that complaints had emerged regarding favoritism, with some officers allegedly prioritizing their relatives over other deserving members of the community.
He emphasized that the program was designed to benefit all qualifying citizens equally, not just those with personal ties to local leaders.
The Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of Otuke, Lomongin Joseph, addressed the issue of underperformance and growing demands for facilitation among PDM officers.
He noted that many officers were failing to play their roles effectively, and the district would soon adopt a performance-based facilitation approach rewarding only those who deliver results.
Meanwhile, the District IT Officer, Tonny Ogwang Okwir, highlighted significant operational challenges hampering the smooth implementation of PDM.
He cited poor network connectivity and data inconsistencies, including incorrect National Identification Numbers (NINs), wrong phone contacts, and frequent cases of beneficiaries forgetting their passwords.
He also lamented the lack of facilitation for key staff such as Parish Chiefs, CDOs, the District Focal Person, and his own department.
Tonny further criticized some Parish Chiefs and Town Agents for their lack of computer skills, revealing that many of them often seek help from his office for basic data entry tasks.
He called for urgent digital capacity building to address this gap.
The District PDM Focal Point Person, Charles Opio, gave a progress update indicating that, as of June 30, 2025, a total of UGX 16,056,600,000 had been injected into PDM SACCOs in Otuke, and UGX 13,453,000,000 had already been disbursed to 13,453 beneficiaries.
He noted, however, that several implementation bottlenecks still needed to be addressed.
One such challenge was raised by Ocan Alex, the Town Agent of Acoke Ward in Okwongo Town Council.
He reported that field officers were facing persistent issues from community members, including frequent requests to change contacts, inconsistencies in ages, and other complications that were slowing down service delivery.