Poor PDM debt recovery irks Legislators

By Our reporter

PARLIAMENT – Officials from Mityana District have come under sharp scrutiny from Parliament after it emerged that only about Shs250,000 out of the disbursed Shs8 billion has been recovered under the Parish Development Model (PDM).

The district team, led by Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Edith Mutabazi, appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (Local Government) chaired by Gilbert Olanya on Thursday, March 26, 2026, to respond to queries raised by the Auditor General for the financial year 2024/2025.

The Committee heard that by the time of the audit, all the Shs8 billion disbursed to 75 beneficiary SACCOs was already due for recovery, but no repayments had been made.

Busongora County North MP Sowedi Kitanywa raised concern over the slow pace of recovery, warning that government risks losing funds meant to fight poverty.

He further cautioned that poor recovery could undermine the objectives of the programme if beneficiaries are not supported to repay sustainably.

“You may end up thinking you are supporting someone to come out of poverty, but you are planting poverty in his home. That is very critical,” he added.

Pressed to explain the current recovery status, Mityana PDM Focal Person, Dr Geoffrey Ssemalago, said only small amounts had so far been collected.

“Basically, the evidence now here for me is monies recovered from Namungo Sub-county. We have one member who paid Shs110,000, another Shs120,000, one paid Shs10,000 and another Shs20,000. So this is what we have been able to get as of now,” Ssemalago told the Committee.

Lawmakers were unimpressed by the figures, describing the recovery as negligible.

“You received Shs8 billion and according to the audit, none was recovered. Now you are telling us you have recovered about Shs250,000. Out of 8 billion, you have so far recovered Shs250,000,” Olanya said.

“And you are very proud that at least the process has started. Do you think within the six months remaining, you shall recover all the Shs8 billion?” he added.

The Committee noted that the district is already six months into the recovery period, with only another six months left before the deadline.

Ssemalago defended the district, arguing that mobilisation efforts only intensified recently.

“When it came to January, we started the activity of mobilising the people to repay, and the process has started. What I have shown is just a little bit to show that the process has commenced,” he said.

He attributed delays to challenges in accessing complete repayment data from the Ministry of Finance.

Earlier, the Committee also questioned delays in disbursing Shs7.5 billion under the Parish Revolving Fund, gaps in the PDM database, and cases of fund diversion.

Responding to the concerns, Edith Mutabazi said initial delays were caused by challenges in enrolling beneficiaries into the system.

On recovery, Mutabazi expressed confidence that the district would meet its obligations.

“With the campaigns we are having now, backed by political leaders on the ground, we are sure that we are going to recover this money,” she said.

However, Kitanywa maintained that recovery must be handled carefully to avoid worsening poverty among beneficiaries.

“If you gave me money to support my project and I end up selling my small land to repay, then you have instead increased poverty. That is something we must look at critically,” he said.

The Auditor General confirmed that the entire Shs8 billion was due for recovery at the time of the audit.

The Committee directed the district to provide concrete evidence of recoveries and report back with significant progress by September–October 2026.