Uganda: Members of Parliament (MPs) break off to oversee Parish Development Model

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The Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among has granted legislators a two-week recess to conduct oversight into the operation of the Parish Development Model.

In a letter addressed to the MPs, the Speaker said that in May 2022, Parliament appropriated Shs1.49 trillion to the Parish Development Model to cover 10,400 parishes in the country.

She said that under Article 90 of the Constitution, the MPs mandate is to carry out the oversight function on the Parish Development Model (PDM) in their respective constituencies.

The letter from the Speaker read by the Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa stated that the oversight will be for two weeks from Friday, 03 to 17 February 2023.

“I have communicated to the relevant authorities and expect that all MPs should be furnished with documentation and correspondences relating to PDM as well as evaluate and access the disbursement of all PDM funds,” The letter read.

She said that the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development is expected to make available all release and disbursement schedules for the PDM to the Members of Parliament.

Among said the MPs will be divided into 18 clusters representative of the 18 sub regions of the.

The MPs will be expected to determine, the exact amount of approved funds disbursed to the respective parishes, the eligibility of the beneficiaries of the funds, assess the effectiveness of the disbursed funds and establish the extent of the adherence to the PDM guidelines and procedures of the actor and implementers of the fund.  

The Parish Development Model is a Government strategy or approach for organizing and delivering public and private sector interventions for wealth creation and employment generation at the parish level as the lowest economic planning unit.

This will ensure support for more Ugandans to increase their demand for goods and services.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda.