President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on Tuesday,10th December, 2024 clarified on the Parish Development Model (PDM) strategy, saying that the government program is aimed at supporting people in parishes to start money-making projects that will grow gradually, usher them into the money economy and fight poverty.
The President made the clarification while at the home of Ms. Doreen Yapsiwa, one of the PDM beneficiaries in Kabukole village,Kobil parish, Kawowo sub- County, Tingey county in Kapchorwa district.
President Museveni who is currently on a wealth creation and PDM performance assessment tour in Sebei Sub-Region, highly praised Ms. Yapsiwa for embracing the government’s call to utilize the PDM funds to create wealth.
“I am very happy to visit our granddaughter and I am happy to see that she has woken up and engaged in wealth creation. She got a cow using PDM money. Before that she had a banana plantation and 500 trees of coffee all on one acre,now that is very good,” the President appreciated.
“So this is the whole strategy. Small, but not too small but small enough to start.”
Additionally, the President cautioned the locals against borrowing money from money lenders and commercial banks, describing the action as being ‘toxic’.
He encouraged them to utilize their parish banks in the form of the PDM SACCOs.
“Don’t get money from money lenders or even commercial Banks because there is a parish bank for you. We shall be putting Shs100 million each year and in 5 years it will be Shs 500 million and in the third year the one who got money first will pay back, so you now get an additional Shs100 million,” he explained.
President Museveni also disclosed that there is a possibility of changing the PDM rules, where once everybody in the parish has paid back, the amount to be borrowed can be raised to more than Shs1 million.
In appreciation to the commendable work done by Ms. Yapsiwa, President Museveni donated a Fuso lorry to help her transport her bananas and that of her neighbors to the market. The President also donated two friesian cows to Ms. Yapsiwa.
On the other hand, the President commended Ms. Yapsiwa for developing and using the biogas system which he said is very important.
On her part, Ms. Yapsiwa expressed her profound gratitude to President Museveni for initiating the PDM program.
While sharing her story, Ms. Yapsiwa narrated how she received the PDM money from Kobil -Kawowo SACCO in August 2023.
“I topped up Shs400,000 to Shs1 million and bought a cow at Shs1.4 million. The cow now gives me 16 litres of milk daily. I sell some of the milk for basic needs at home and some is for home consumption,” she said.
She also commended the Production Officer of Kapchorwa district for his advice, support and guidance on her farm free of charge.
“On bananas, I harvest 20 bunches every 7th day of the month. During the festive season, like now Christmas is near, I sell each bunch at Shs40,000 and during off season I sell each bunch between Shs15,000 to Shs20,000,” she said.
Ms. Yapsiwa added that she has 500 coffee trees,and in her first harvest this year, she got 3 kilograms from each tree, translating to 1,500 kgs.
She further proudly recounted that she no longer uses firewood for cooking because in her enterprise, she does rotational farming where she utilizes the dung for processing biogas, recommending the system to be rolled out in the country.
“I do request that if this biogas system can be adopted in the country, it is a clean cooking energy system, it will save the environment,” she proposed.
The 34-year-old mother of three also advised women in the country to embrace government programs like the PDM to liberate themselves from poverty and dependency syndrome on their husbands.
“To my fellow women, let’s work hard. This issue of waiting for a Kavera from a man is not good. Let us try to work hard, money is not only got through salary, money is even got through farming,” she advised.
The Presidential visit was attended by Ministers, Members of Parliament, local leaders, among others.
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