Legitimacy of a Government Lies in its Ability to Provide Decent Jobs & Services to its Citizens✅🇺🇬
The Parish Development Model is the answer
By Eng.Kiiza Idiri Kamuntu
(National Coordinator for Team Thorough-YKM)
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What is Parish Development Model?
●A strategy/vehicle for accelerating wealth & job creation, and improving service delivery at parish level.
●Its intent is to take government to the people in a more effective way through: via data gathering, community mobilization and mindset change, area-based enterprise selection & development, provision of financial services, co-ordination of government programmes, and feedback by the people on government services and wealth programmes (local accountability)
●The objective is to increase the effectiveness of interaction between GoU and citizens to accelerate the realization of socio-economic transformation – getting Ugandans out of subsistence economy into the monetary economy with in 5 years.
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Pillars of the Parish Development Model
1. Production, storage, processing and marketing
2. Infrastructure and economic services
3. Financial inclusion
4. Social services
5. Community mobilisation & mindset change
6. Data collection (Parish-based management information system)
7. Governance and administration (one-gov’t approach)
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Why Parish Development Model?
●There’re a number of initiatives that have been delivered at regional level (PRDP, NURP, NUSAF, Rwenzori, Luwero, etc.) or at national level (Entandikwa, YVCF, YLP, UWEP, OWC etc.)
●Common among these interventions is the control of the design, implementation, M&E and accountability by the Central Government.
●More so none of these interventions comprehensively addressed the different aspects of development – production, infrastructure, social services, financing, security, public administration, and governance and accountability.
●In addition, much of the development agenda is currently being implemented through projects; an approach that has distorted policy, implementation & measurement of results.
●Projects have also undermined the goal of decentralization and created undesirable outcomes – persistence of poverty and subsistence, unemployment, inequality and regional imbalance despite budget growth.
●Projects have also failed the LED policy implementation, intended to create wealth, increase household incomes and socio-economic transformation at lower LGs (where people are).
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How is it going to work?
1)The conceptual guide, governance structure, and implementation framework are under design and will be formally communicated.
2) The Parish Chief is going to be the coordinator of all Government efforts at the parish and report to the sub-county chief (as provided for in Sec 69 in LGA).
3) A Parish Development Committee (PDC) is going to be formed comprising both state and non-state actors.
4) A Parish Co-operative Association (PCA), through which government support will be channeled, is also going to be formed.
5) A targeted results framework has been developed to track progress in the medium-term.
How is it going to work?
Preliminary
1). National Policy Committee (NPC) chaired by H.E the VP to coordinate different players [members: Ministers of MoLG, MoFPED, MAAIF, MoTIC, MoWT, MoGLSD, MoICT&NG, MoES, MoH, MoKCCA, MoWE, of General Duties, SG-NRM, NPA Chair, CC OWC, Private Sector & CSOs Reps]
2). OPM to provide overall M&E – detailed M&E framework is being developed by OPM & NPA
3). MoLG to host the PDM Implementation Unit (whose head will be appointed by H.E) will report to the NPC on a quarterly basis.
4).Each of the 7 pillars will have a PDM Working Group composed of relevant MDAs, private sector, development partner, CSO Reps.
5).Outstanding activities include: Filling of vacant Parish Chief positions (4,600 out of 10,594) by end of Sept 2021
6).Strengthening of Parish Development Committees (PDCs) – chaired by LC II Chair [membership: LCII exco, Parish Chief, Chairs of special interest groups, NRM Parish Chair, CSO/Business Rep, opinion leader, LCI Chairs in the Parish]. Orientation and training of PDCs, LGs and Parish Chiefs will be carried out.
7). Operationalization of 716 newly created lower LGs (Sub-counties & Town Councils) to supervise the Parishes. UGX 29bn required.
8). Finalization of guidelines and manuals – drafts are ready; they need validation and consultation before getting published.
9).Popularization of the PDM
10).Alignment of programme (formally sector) plans and budgets.
11).Production of the tools for the Parish-based management information system – questionnaire, software etc. for data collection (by MoLG, UBOS, MoICT&NG)
PRIORITY COMMODITY LIST FOR THE PARISH MODEL
1. Coffee
2. Cotton
3. Cocoa
4. Tea
5. Cassava
6. Vegetable oils/Oil palm
7. Maize
8. Rice
9. Sugar Cane
10. Fish
11. Diary
12. Beef
13. Bananas
14. Beans
15. Avocado
16. Shea Nut
17. Cashew Nuts
18. Macadamia Nuts
Thanks
Kind Regards
Eng.Kiiza Idiri Kamuntu
👁️ The Keen Eye
☑️ The Patriot
☑️ NRM Cadre
☑️ National Coordinator for Team Thorough-YKM
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