Nebbi District is struggling to recover Sh6.6 billion disbursed to 6,600 beneficiaries under the Parish Development Model (PDM), with district leaders warning that low repayment rates are threatening the sustainability of the revolving fund. The district received the money under the first and second PDM disbursements, with each beneficiary receiving Sh1 million. However, only Sh2.7 million has so far been recovered, according to district officials.
Boniface Opio, the PDM focal point person in Nebbi District, said the two-year grace period for beneficiaries who received the funds during the 2022/2023 financial year expired in February 2026, but recovery remains a major challenge. Opio attributed part of the problem to irregularities during the initial selection of beneficiaries, saying the district was forced to temporarily halt disbursement in 2023 after discovering that lists submitted by parish chiefs were dominated by councillors and LC II chairpersons instead of the subsistence households targeted by the programme.
“We have learned that some of the beneficiaries benefited from the PDM funds, but their details are missing on the PDM checklists. This needs the involvement of LCs and SACCO leaders to establish their whereabouts,” Opio said. He said all PDM beneficiaries were required to be enrolled in the system by September 4, 2026, with district officials engaging enterprise leaders to identify beneficiaries whose names are missing from the database.
Opio also said the PDM loan is attached to the household, meaning that where a beneficiary dies, the surviving spouse remains responsible for repayment. However, Yaya Okwong, a resident of Pulum Parish in Acana Sub-county, said some SACCO members were reluctant to repay the loans because of alleged manipulation of beneficiary lists.
Okwong alleged that some group leaders included ghost beneficiaries and brought people from outside their communities to receive the funds, making it difficult for genuine beneficiaries to comply with repayment requirements. “Other beneficiaries were brought from other places to get PDM money, and they are not featuring on the lists of the PDM beneficiaries. We urged the LCs to track records of the PDM beneficiaries because some money was given to friends, relatives and in-laws with kickbacks to the leaders, but the details are not on the group lists,” Okwong said.
Joseph Paul, a principal officer in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, said PDM funds are intended to operate as a revolving fund, meaning money repaid by one beneficiary should be made available to other eligible beneficiaries. “Loan recovery was halted during political seasons, but since politics is done, loan recovery must resume. The Nebbi situation isn’t okay because people got the loans and they don’t want to pay back, denying other beneficiaries the opportunity to get loans,” Joseph said.
He also raised concerns about the saving and repayment culture among some beneficiaries, saying some households have diverted the funds from their intended income-generating activities to non-essential expenditures. Joseph said some beneficiaries had used PDM funds to buy items such as music systems and mattresses or to finance birthday celebrations instead of investing in enterprises capable of generating income and supporting repayment.
Robert Abak called for security teams from village to district level to assist in tracing beneficiaries who have failed to repay the loans. Abak said preliminary investigations had indicated that some beneficiaries relocated to the Democratic Republic of Congo after receiving the funds, making recovery more difficult.
He said authorities would have to work with relevant agencies to trace beneficiaries who had crossed into the neighbouring country. “PDM funds are low-interest loans that the government has channelled through parishes as seed capital for the active poor, but the first beneficiaries have refused to refund them. We shall come for you,” Abak said. District leaders say improved tracking of beneficiaries, enforcement of repayment and stronger oversight of SACCOs will be necessary to restore the revolving nature of the PDM funds and ensure other eligible households can access the money-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
