The recovery of funds disbursed under the Parish Development Model (PDM) in Nakaseke District has come under scrutiny after legislators learnt that only Shs28.2 million had been recovered over the past year.
The Public Accounts Committee (Local Government), chaired by Betty Nambooze, heard that Shs25 billion had been disbursed to Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisations (SACCOs) in the district.
Of this amount, Shs6.46 billion was expected to be recovered in the 2025/2026 financial year under the Parish Revolving Fund (PRF) arrangement.
The district PDM focal person, Robert Kaggwa, told the committee that about 2,500 families had benefited from the programme but only Shs28.2 million had been recovered, mainly through voluntary repayments.
Nambooze described the recovery rate as unsatisfactory, questioning how the district would recover the outstanding funds.
“Government is investing a lot of money. If Nakaseke alone has been given Shs25 billion and they have failed to recover even Shs100 million in the first phase of recovery, how are other districts performing on the Parish Revolving Fund?” Nambooze asked.
She tasked Kaggwa with explaining how the Shs6.46 billion expected during the financial year would be recovered.
“Tell us how we can get this money back, and show us that you have done your part and that it is the beneficiaries refusing to pay,” she said.
Kaggwa attributed the low recovery rate partly to the absence of clear mechanisms to guide PDM beneficiaries on repayment after the two-year grace period.
He said repayments are now being made through the Wendi mobile application, with the money deposited into SACCO accounts.
“The recovery is now via the Wendi app, where the money paid back goes to the SACCO account. The beneficiary and SACCO chairperson receive a message, and it is also received by the Ministry of Finance,” Kaggwa said.
He said communication had been sent to lower local government accounting officers to monitor and enforce the recovery of PDM funds.
“We are also sensitising the public through radio talk shows and community meetings. We take them through the guidelines for recovery of these funds,” Kaggwa said.
Youth funds
The committee also heard that funds disbursed under the Youth Livelihood Programme (YLP) had not been received by some of the groups listed by Nakaseke District Community Development Officer Denis Batalingaya.
The Auditor General’s report on Nakaseke District Local Government for the audit year ended December 2025 shows that only Shs3 million had been recovered from beneficiary groups, against an outstanding balance of Shs923 million.
“Failure to repay in a timely manner implies that other eligible groups were unable to access the funds,” the report says.
The accounting officer attributed the poor recovery to the disintegration of most beneficiary groups, making it difficult to enforce repayment.
Batalingaya said the district had invited YLP groups for meetings to discuss recovery of the funds, but the respective team leaders did not attend.
He said the district had also continued submitting quarterly field reports on the matter to the Chief Administrative Officer.
