Why leaders in north want parish model redesigned 

At least 100 parishes in Acholi Sub-region are to benefit from the Parish Development Model, the latest of attempts to turn around service delivery and alleviate poverty at the grassroots.

A total of Shs200 billion has been allocated for the development model whose implementation kicks off next month.

During the burial of Lt Gen Paul Lokech in Pader Town recently, Gen Salim Saleh, the chief coordinator of the Operation Wealth Creation, said he initiated the Parish Development Model 15 years ago, adding that it was by far the best strategy to alleviate poverty in Uganda.

However, he said many people do not yet understand how it works.

“It was first discussed in May 2006, and this is August 2021, but people are still confused about what it means. I am requesting those (Acholi leaders) who are burying Gen Lokech  to also help me to keep the parish model alive because it is the only way you can create wealth for the population,” Gen Saleh said.

He also revealed that although some 100 groups across Acholi Sub-region had already been given money under another version of the parish model, many were stuck with it because they do not know how to use it.

“This is the first time people are stuck with money at the parish level. Already 100 parishes are working on the parish model under a programme called PRELNOR. We need to transfer data from PRELNOR into local government so that we don’t waste a lot of time because money has already been sent to the accounts of the parish,” he said.

Project for the Restoration of Livelihoods in the Northern Region (PRELNOR) is a seven-year programme that started in August 2015 running up to September 2022.

Under the Parish Development Model, activities will be planned and executed at the parish level. 

But at the same burial of Gen Lokech, Chief Justice Alphonse Owiny-Dollo urged Gen Saleh to review the parish model to accommodate the interests of the people of northern Uganda.

“When you (Gen Saleh) designed the parish model, you forgot that Acholi Sub-region was in a state of armed conflict for a quarter of a century (25 years), the longest period of armed conflict any area of Uganda has experienced, and I hope you can review your paper and proposal to the government,” he said.

Justice Dollo argued that putting the north at the same level with other regions in terms of funding for the programme is already an error.

Queries

“And you rank Acholi Sub-region in the parish model with Buganda, Bundibugyo, Mbale and Jinja (that did not suffer armed conflict), that is where you failed. I would have loved to hear you say ‘for Acholi Sub-region, it should instead be a village model, not a parish model,” he said.

“The most poverty-stricken part of Uganda is Acholi, the area where education has died is Acholi. How can you put Acholi in a parish model with the rest of Uganda? All that you need to do is make a special intervention for this area to cure,” he added.

One key pillar of the parish model is financial inclusion, which is intended to promote savings and investment by households.

According to the ministerial statement presented to Parliament, starting Financial Year 2022/2023, the amount of funds to be allocated to the parishes will be determined based on the share of households in the subsistence economy and the poverty levels in the district. 

Special groups such as women, youth and persons with disabilities (PWDs) will be given priority. 

Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah also said they were waiting to critique the parish model on the floor of the House

“We will not be looking at the 15 years ago (as Gen Saleh says), we will be looking at the current proposition that President Museveni has been articulating in the last two years (wealth creation and prosperity), that is what we shall be examining,” he added.

According to Mr Zachary Beker, the Palaro Clan chief in Adjumani District (West Nile), the parish model, like other past government poverty alleviation programmes, is likely to fail once monitoring and supervision are not put in place.

“There is a need to strengthen monitoring systems and proper evaluation by both technocrats and elected leaders but with their hands off the money. This is one severe challenge that saw the collapse of past programmes such as PRELNOR and Nusaf,” Mr Beker said.

“This time the parish model may succeed since the money will be remitted directly to the parish accounts instead of going through several accounts but instead of giving uniform allocation to regions of the country, parishes with high population should be made to get more money,” he added.

Because the beneficiaries will be able to do their procurement, Mr Moses Mugweru, the Adjumani deputy resident district commissioner, hopes that the parish model succeeds.

“This programme will benefit the peasant farmers most because the beneficiaries will be the ones to brainstorm and source for exactly what fits them and they will also account for the funds themselves unless this is changed again to something else later,” he said.

But Mr PP Okin Ojara, the Chwa East MP in Kitgum District, said unless the model can address failures in the previous interventions, then changes ought to be made to it.

“The previous programmes, I think, were disjointed. The whole essence of the parish model must ensure that we address that element of having disjointed programmes, which become duplicated and inefficient,” Mr Ojara said. 

However, with the current budgetary allocation of Shs200 billion, each parish.

HOW MODEL WILL WORK

Under the Parish Development Model (PDM), the parish chief will lead the community development agenda by consensus. It is expected by the central government that by giving power to local policy makers, it will shape the rural economy by focusing on their competitive advantages.

In the wake of the ever-distracting news stories, it’s important that the media moves away from focusing on individuals, sideshows and routine political stories.  Media should focus on the substance in the Parish Development Model and keep tracking the process.