The two-year grace period for repaying loans issued under the Parish Development Model (PDM) will end in March 2026, after which beneficiaries will be required to begin repayment within one year.
This was revealed by the State Minister for Luwero Triangle and National Coordinator for PDM, Dennis Galabuzi, while appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (Central Government) on March 3, 2026.
Galabuzi explained that the first funds were released during the 2022/2023 financial year after earlier challenges affected disbursement the previous year.
“The first batch of money was disbursed in the financial year 2022/2023 because in 2021/2022, there were issues with the money so we more or less discounted it. We are currently reminding parish chiefs and everyone involved in supervision of PDM to sensitise the public on this,” Galabuzi said.
Members of Parliament raised concern that many beneficiaries may not understand that the money was issued as loans that must be repaid.
Galabuzi urged legislators to help government educate the public about the programme and the importance of repayment so that the fund can continue supporting others.
“PDM is a game changer if well implemented. The issue of repayment should be a concerted effort from our side as government and from Members of Parliament who do oversight. If beneficiaries pay back, then others will also benefit,” he said.
Patrick Nsamba, the MP for Kassanda County North, said many recipients had assumed the money was a grant and not a loan.
“Do you have a communication strategy that will ensure the realignment of the public perception about the loans they took under PDM? Otherwise, they will be so disappointed that they have to pay back,” Nsamba said.
Fredrick Angura, the MP for Tororo South County, raised concerns that 127 parishes in Tororo district had not yet received funding under the programme.
However, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government, Ben Kumumanya, said the parishes had not received funds because they lack elected leaders at the administrative level.
“When you do not have elected leaders, you are not a fully operational parish and have no chairperson for the parish development committees. But the elections for local councils are in the pipeline and we are waiting for funding to execute them,” Kumumanya said.
According to the Auditor General’s report, guidelines on the payment of the Parish Revolving Fund are still in draft form and have not yet been distributed to stakeholders.
“I advised the accounting officer to prioritise the roles and responsibilities of the high-level policy committee and the inter-institutional PDM technical committee and ensure proper documentation of resolutions and action points,” the report states.
