By Western Focus team
Government has injected a total of Shs5.8billion in Rubirizi district under the Parish Development Model (PDM.)
The Rubirizi district Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Baker Akampurira said 5800 people have benefited from the above amount with each taking Sh1million.
“So far we don’t have any complaint or case concerning with the implementation of PDM and that means that PDM is a success story in Rubirizi district,” Akampurira said.
Akampurira said those who try to divert from the program’s objectives are always guided.
He however said government needed to address the issue of mindset change amongst the population before rolling out the program.
Akampurira said some people think that this PDM money is a token of appreciation from President Yoweri Museveni. “We are warning people against politicizing this program because this money is intended to lift them out of poverty and so they must pay it back,” he said.
Akampurira was on Monday briefing a team from the PDM secretariat that was in the district monitoring the progress of the program.
The team that was led by Julius Kapwepwe who is in-charge of PDM in the Ankole region visited a number of beneficiaries to see the progress of the different enterprises which they started using the Sh1million they received from PDM.
The team visited a beneficiary like Godfrey Katureebe a coffee farmer who said PDM has enabled him to expand his coffee garden from 1000 coffee trees to 1500 coffee trees.
Eleonida Tibareka, 69, said she used the Sh1million to buy three pigs to start a piggery project which later gave her 15piglets. She said she has sold some piglets and used the money to start a goat rearing project alongside that of piggery. “Had it not been PDM, I was going to live my life and die without touching a million of money!” she said. Tibareka commended government for coming up with the PDM model that deals with people/beneficiaries directly.
In other news, the former Archbishop of the Church of Uganda Rt.Rev Luke Orombi has visited KAM demonstration farm in Mutara sub county in Mitooma district. The farm has been established by Ben Mugasha aka BEMUGA a city businessman. Orombi hailed Mugasha for establishing such a farm in a community where he (Mugasha) comes from. Mugasha said the demo farm is intended to showcase a number of farming enterprises that one can do.
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