For PDM to succeed, give funds to entrepreneurs

The Parish Development Model (PDM) is a truly commendable government initiative mostly because it provides ordinary people at parish level a voice and chance to identify with their needs. 

I have seen how it has empowered some households to think big, work hard and utilise every commercial opportunity to transition from subsistence livelihoods into the money economy.

However, going by the media revelations, the PDM is facing several challenges, especially when it comes to corruption.

Over the past few days, the media has been awash with the arrests of several stakeholders within the PDM value chain for corruption, misappropriation, and mismanagement of the funds. Several chief administrative officers (CAOs) have already been arrested for diverting the funds while several parish development units have complained about receiving lesser funds than what is officially portrayed.

It all starts and ends with mindsets people have about the PDM. To many, this is a government donation to the poor. It is very clear this is a growing cancer for the PDM and the brains behind the initiative should have foreseen this.

Many people are yet to comprehend that PDM is not a government donation and instead it is an initiative to kick-start their business and entrepreneurial capacity.

Before, we have had government initiatives intended to lift people out of poverty but the reason they all didn’t have a lasting impact can be traced to the beneficiaries’ habitual carefree mental attitude that interprets such initiatives as donations or rewards.

 It is on this background that I reiterate the need to streamline PDM to target the people who can best utilise it. Having a stake of about Shs1.7 trillion cannot be downgraded for every Tom, Dick, and Harry.

Firstly, in economic terms, the PDM is a form of socialism in that it promotes dominance of social ownership of the funds as opposed to private ownership. In reality, Uganda is a capitalist state in that the economy is based on private ownership of capital.

So, to expect a parish to operate as a unit is daydreaming. However, there are several individuals that possess entrepreneurial acumen to lift up a community.

The point is; instead of providing the Shs17m to a parish whose members lack entrepreneurial acumen, it would be better to give it to a business-oriented person to grow his business and benefit the community.

A number of experts have criticised the Shs17m per parish as being small but their thinking is based on the urban areas where there are businesses worth billions. In my Kyotera area, Shs17m can buy pesticides and fertilizers for a whole farming community or even hire a tractor to plough their farmland. Therefore, small as it may be, PDM funds are not in vain and have the capacity to transform a community.

However, a Buganda saying goes that “Amamese amangi tegeesimila bunya, nga tegaliiko agakubiriza,” which literally means that a desperate group cannot get themselves out of danger if they lack an exemplary model.

From this analogy, even if each parish were to receive Shs170m, they wouldn’t do much if beneficiaries lack the specialty or entrepreneurship skills to get themselves out of subsistence livelihood. Here’s how it can work.

Picture this; on average, a parish has about 2,000 households and as much the PDM is a rotating fund, it cannot reach out to every intended beneficiary.

 A parish without a role model farmer, entrepreneur or industrialist may not gain much from these funds.

Instead, I advocate for the capitalist approach where communities can identify proven and trusted entrepreneurs to give a lift-up.

These individuals would be vetted and must have businesses that benefit the communities they live in.

For instance, a qualified doctor that needs a little push to set up a clinic can benefit from the funds because his/her service is going to improve the general healthcare of the community.

This way, it would mean that money would be given to a person who not only has a business sense but can also utilise the bailout to benefit the community, thereby creating a win-win situation.

It is for this reason that the United States, due to its capitalist nature, has room for business geniuses to thrive. Uganda has many such people but they are limited mostly by funding.

The writer is a business-oriented Ugandan