The Acholi sub-region tour on investment and wealth creation had drawn to a close, and the theme of the event had been “Securing your future through wealth creation and shared prosperity.” However, the President was forced to address a much more troubling topic. The PDM, which was meant to help the local community, had been mismanaged, and there were fears that the intended objectives might not be achieved.
President Museveni was quick to reassure the crowd that his government would not fail to bring to book all those involved in messing up the PDM. He stated that the NRM government had always been in direct contact with the people and its leaders, and in case they failed, then the population would be directly contacted to speak out.
The President’s visit to the Acholi sub-region was to check for himself by visiting farmers and see if any of them had benefited from the Parish development model. Unfortunately, he reported that he had not seen the PDM yet on the ground, and this was a cause for concern.
The warning from Gen Museveni had been triggered by shocking revelations and testimonies from the locals on how the wealth creation program had been mismanaged in its infant stages. Mr. Odongo Alex Okoya, who identified himself as the Chairperson of the Parish Development Model committee in one of the parishes in Gulu city, had decried a team of corrupt civil servants who were misleading the community about the PDM.
Mr. Okoya spoke of his struggles to access the list of beneficiaries for the PDM program in his parish, stating that he had requested it for two months and had not seen it yet. He alleged that even landlords had benefited, not the subsistence local people who were the intended recipients of the program. He swore on a Bible before the President that he was not lying, and civil servants in Gulu City did not want NRM cadres to be close to the PDM money because they would report their bad deeds to the President.
President Museveni’s speech was a call to action for the NRM government and the community to come together to ensure that the intended objectives of the PDM were achieved. He emphasized the need for transparency and accountability in the program and urged the people to speak out if they had any concerns.
The President reiterated that the NRM government would not rest until those responsible for mismanaging the PDM program were brought to book. He called on the people to work with his government to ensure that the program’s intended objectives were achieved, and the community was lifted out of poverty.
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