Grapevine

Govt to delete ‘rich people’ from PDM beneficiary lists

The State minister for Microfinance, Mr Haruna Kasolo, has directed authorities in Kyotera District to remove the names of individuals classified as rich from the lists of Parish Development Model (PDM) beneficiary groups.

During his countrywide PDM monitoring programme in Kyotera District on September 25, Mr Kasolo was shocked to discover that, despite the PDM's focus on supporting the poor, wealthy individuals, including those involved in import and export businesses, had been listed as beneficiaries, while the poor were excluded.

“In our countrywide tour and monitoring programme, we have discovered that businessmen and women importing goods from China and Dubai are among the PDM beneficiaries in some areas. This is irregular and against the guidelines. Remove names of the rich from the PDM lists,” he said.

He added: "When you choose to deny the poor access to the PDM funds in favour of the rich, you are frustrating the government efforts targeting the uplifting of the poor. The PDM funds are supposed to benefit the poor and not people that are already under the rich category."

Kyotera District, with its 60 parishes, has so far received Shs14 billion for its 66 registered Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisations (Saccos). According to a report from the PDM Secretariat, a total of 8,031 individuals have been selected to benefit from the funds.