The National Resistance Movement government has come up with good programs like Entandikwa, Operation Wealth Creation, Youth livelihood program, PDM and several others. Whereas I agree that there are success stories from each of those programs but the targeted people are usually not reached and I think that’s why we still have the problem of more people locked in poverty and subsistence economy. When you take time to study and read the literature about each of these programs, you realize that they’re good programs that if we succeeded in implementing them we would surely reduce poverty if not bringing it to the end. A program like the Parish development model is a good program that initiators surely took time to think about. It handled well, it can be a solution to the economic challenges that the country has faced over time. But however before it’s inception complaints are all over with some officials already interdicted and some yet to be arrested for misusing the money and some collecting bribes from beneficiaries. This surely gives a bad image to the rest of Ugandans. What exactly is the problem? What can be done? who is wrong and who is right?.
I have been lucky to participate in some of these programs as a supervisor especially Emyoga but the biggest challenge isn’t the government or the implementers but rather the targeted people themselves. For instance in the Emyoga program We have problems with the Youth SACCOs whereby most of them got the money and runaway with it but even when they run away with it you can hardly trace what they achieved with the money they took. Meaning either the money was taken and used to buy expensive phones or buy alcohol. There’s a serious problem of lack of financial literacy whereby some people do not have saving culture and those who get money spend it on things which they wouldn’t be spending on. The increased vices of alcoholism has affected most of these good programs because most of the money end up in the bars to buy alcohol. Even when we blame the civil servants for misusing this money but sometimes they enter deals with poor Ugandans who are supposed to be beneficiaries.
It’s very funny but factual that most Ugandans thought that Emyoga money was given as “akasiimo” from the President and that’s the reason as to why some people took the loans and refused to pay it back. It has taken us alot of time to explain to most of them that the Emyoga money is a revolving fund which is supposed to help the people with different skills to produce more and make more profits hence developing themselves. Actually even using the word “loans” in the Emyoga money can be misinterpreted by the people. So should we blame the civil servants that they told Ugandans that the Emyoga money was meant for campaigns? I do not think so, we should actually blame ourselves for failing to teach Ugandans what they were supposed to do with the money before releasing it to them. Through financial literacy lessons I have been made to learn and understand that nobody should get loan without clear plan on how you’re going to use it because you will end up misusing the money. So how about releasing billions to the people who do not know what do with it?
Recently, the President in his address to the members of Parliament at Kalolo talked about the “Basasaradoti” of the PDM and several other government programs. To my understanding I think the president meant that who will take the responsibility to sensitize the people about these good programs and how Ugandans can benefit from them. It is very unfortunate that even when we have hundreds of radios across the country broadcasting in different local languages the government officials especially the ministers and the members of Parliament do not take advantage of these radios to reach out to the people so that they can teach them about these good programs. When they’re called on those radios they give one reasons that they’re busy. They’ve instead left the media to the opposition to spread dangerous propaganda against the government and some even talking ill against those programs.
Who therefore is going to be the musasaradoti for the Parish development program in the difference districts of Ugandans? Who will teach Ugandans that the PDM and Emyoga Money isn’t meant for campaigns but rather to get them out of poverty and join the money economy? Who will sensitive the youth to have financial discipline and avoid using money meant for business to buy expensive smart phones? Who will advise men who wake up early in the morning going to the trading centers for alcohol instead of first doing something in their gardens or looking after their animals? President Museveni has frequently said that during his senior six vacation, he used that time to teach the people of Nyabushozi about the dangers moving to different areas in search for pasture instead of settling in one area so that they can develop themselves. Thank God they understood his message and it has helped them to grow economically. We therefore need same approach in different parts of the country to help those who may need that wisdom to develop themselves.
It is very unfortunate that as we enroll the PDM program and as we send money on the accounts of the parish SACCOs most beneficiaries do not have the knowledge about PDM. They’ve maybe heard the words PDM on radios and in speeches at the burials but they do not know what the PDM is all about. Remember the PDM focuses most on the vulnerable poor and most of those people do not know how to read and write and therefore the Literature about PDM might not be of help to them. It means that they need interpreters and the people who are educated and trained to do that job perfectly. Thank God, in the government structure we have the community development officers who are the CDOs.
So why don’t we empower them to first handle the challenge of mindset change? why don’t we first organize Village meetings of mindset change which is actually a pillar in the PDM program so that when money finally comes Ugandans do not misuse it but rather do what they’re supposed to do with it?
These would be supplemented by the MPs and the ministers who they only meet once in a while. But if we keep releasing money to the people who do not know how to use it they will surely misuse it and we shall not get results from those good programs.
The writer is a deputy RDC Sheema District.
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