The Government of Uganda has today released Shs529 billion as the first tranche for capitalisation of Parish Development Model (PDM) SACCOs in the 2025/26 financial year.
Finance Minister Matia Kasaija announced that, beginning tomorrow, all 10,589 verified PDM SACCOs will each receive Shs50 million directly into their accounts, in line with the PDM policy, which prescribes two equal disbursements every six months.
“The Parish Development Model is no longer a theory. It is a reality. It is in your parishes. It is in your households. PDM is growing bigger, stronger, and more impactful,” Kasaija said while releasing the funds at the Ministry of Finance.
The government has so far transferred Shs3.216 trillion to all the 10,589 parishes. Each parish has now received at least Shs300 million in earlier disbursements, and officials say 99 percent of these funds have already reached more than 3.27 million Ugandans.
The PDM is designed to help transform subsistence households into active participants in the money economy. Over the previous cycles, a major portion of the funds has supported enterprises in food and cash crops, livestock, poultry and other income-generating activities at parish level.
Despite the scale of investment, the model has faced several implementation challenges. Audits have highlighted delays in previous disbursements, gaps in documentation, and in some cases, failure by SACCOs to verify projects of certain beneficiaries. Some funds have also been disbursed outside appropriate planting seasons, affecting expected returns for farmers.
Other risks include inadequate staffing at the grassroots, with many local governments operating below the required number of extension workers and lacking basic field equipment. Many PDM SACCOs are yet to be licensed under the relevant financial laws, raising concerns about their governance. There is also no fully operational results tracking system or monitoring framework for the funds.
Government however, maintains that the model is gaining momentum and will deliver widespread impact once structural weaknesses are addressed. Modern digital systems are being used for payments and monitoring, and new reporting requirements will soon compel parish chiefs to submit annual status reports on the parish economy.
The latest injection of Shs529 billion is expected to boost enterprise financing for households that rely on these SACCOs for low-interest loans. Analysts believe that strengthening governance, monitoring, and SACCO regulation could enable the Parish Development Model to lift millions of Ugandans out of subsistence production and accelerate rural economic growth.
