Tororo District Local Government has directed beneficiaries of the Parish Development Model to immediately begin repaying loans disbursed under the programme following the expiry of the two year grace period.
In a circular dated February 23, 2026 and addressed to all town clerks and senior assistant secretaries, the district reminded implementers that the first PDM loans were issued in December 2022 and that the 24 months granted by Cabinet ended in December 2024.
“Beneficiaries should initiate PRF loan repayment for those whose 24 months’ grace period has expired and repaying the loans should be in accordance with the previously agreed repayment schedules,” the letter reads.
The district further emphasised that repayment must strictly follow the approved government channel.
“All loan repayments MUST be made to the respective PDM SACCOs Wendi accounts and attached herein is the process flow to guide PDM beneficiaries,” the communication states.
The directive was signed by Ayo Juliet Okwir for the Chief Administrative Officer and copied to the Resident District Commissioner, District Internal Security Officer, District Commercial Officer, parish chiefs, ward agents and PDM SACCO board members to ensure the message reaches beneficiaries across all parishes.
The move marks a critical transition in the implementation of the Parish Development Model, shifting attention from disbursement to recovery and sustainability. The PDM is the government’s flagship poverty eradication strategy designed to move households from subsistence to participation in the money economy. It is anchored on seven pillars, with financial inclusion serving as the engine of the programme. Through this pillar, government established SACCOs in every parish to manage the Parish Revolving Fund.
Under the arrangement, each parish SACCO receives government capital which is then lent to verified beneficiaries at agreed terms. The loans target investments in agriculture, livestock rearing, poultry, produce trading, retail shops and other income generating activities. Beneficiaries are given a two year grace period to stabilise their enterprises before repayment begins. Once repayment starts, both the principal and agreed interest are returned to the SACCO to enable lending to new members within the same parish.
Since the programme rollout, government has injected more than Shs3.2 trillion into over 10,500 parish SACCOs across the country. Each parish has received at least Shs300 million in earlier phases, and in the current financial year an additional Shs50 million per SACCO was released as part of ongoing capitalisation. Official figures show that more than 3.2 million Ugandans have directly benefited from the funds, making it one of the largest direct household financing interventions in the country’s history.
Performance across districts has varied. Some districts have recorded near full disbursement of funds to beneficiaries, while others have faced delays linked to verification challenges, incomplete documentation, and internal administrative bottlenecks. In districts such as Hoima, several parishes reportedly exhausted their allocated funds after successful beneficiary verification and timely processing, placing them among the better-performing areas in terms of utilisation.
However, national oversight reports have raised concerns about gaps between funds released and funds actually reaching beneficiaries. By the close of the last financial year, hundreds of billions of shillings were yet to be disbursed to final beneficiaries in some areas despite being transferred to SACCO accounts. Recovery has also been slow in several districts where beneficiaries eligible to start repayment have not yet complied, raising fears about the long term sustainability of the revolving model.
The essence of the PDM revolving fund is continuity. Government’s expectation is that once the first cohort repays, the same money should circulate within the parish to finance another set of households without requiring constant fresh injections from the Treasury. If repayment is delayed or defaulted, the entire parish risks stalling access to capital for other members.
Tororo’s directive therefore brings enforcement as districts seek to protect the integrity of the fund. Local leaders are now expected to intensify sensitisation, supervision and monitoring to ensure that beneficiaries honour their obligations.
As the repayment phase gathers pace nationwide, the success of the Parish Development Model will increasingly depend not only on how much money the government releases, but on how effectively communities manage and reinvest the funds entrusted to them.
