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By Nabimanya Ronald
Uganda doesn’t need more slogans. We need solutions.
In his latest campaign speech, Robert Kyagulanyi promised to abolish the Parish Development Model (PDM) within his first 100 days in office. He dismisses it as a “handout,” labels it wasteful, and wants it scrapped. But this position exposes a deep ignorance of what PDM truly is and what it stands for.
The PDM is built on seven core pillars:
- Financial Inclusion
- Mindset Change
- Parish-Based Management Information Systems
- Agricultural Value Chain Development
- Value Addition and Marketing
- Infrastructure and Economic Services
- Governance and Administration
By ignorantly focusing only on financial inclusion, Kyagulanyi misrepresents the entire structure and intent of the program.
Even worse, he fails to understand that traditional banks and financial institutions cannot serve the very people PDM targets Uganda’s rural poor because they lack collateral, capital, or financial documentation. These are people who have always been left behind. Supporting their access to finance is not political patronage. It is financial inclusion of the poor — and that is a human rights issue.
- The PDM Is Not a Handout — It’s Capital Access
PDM is not free money. It is a structured revolving fund managed at the parish level and meant to empower subsistence farmers, informal traders, and rural households who have long been excluded from formal financial systems.
These are Ugandans with no collateral, no bank accounts, and no access to capital. They are productive but economically invisible.
PDM is not charity. It is access. It is opportunity. It is dignity.
- Without PDM, Rural Uganda Remains Trapped
Kyagulanyi argues that people should be “allowed to be” and not pulled into the formal money economy.
But what does that really mean?
Should a farmer in Nakaseke still be using a hand hoe in 2025?
Should a woman in Bududa selling tomatoes remain stuck without access to working capital?
That’s not freedom it’s abandonment.
PDM is designed to inject liquidity directly at the parish level — helping rural Ugandans help themselves, without relying on urban elites or exploitative lenders.
- If the System Is Flawed, Reform It — Don’t Burn It
Every system has weaknesses. If there’s corruption, the answer is not destruction; it’s oversight, reform, and improvement.
Abolishing PDM because of individual misconduct is like burning your house to kill a rat.
If Kyagulanyi wants to lead, let him offer a plan to fix, not erase, one of the few programs attempting to decentralize economic power in Uganda.
- PDM Is Uganda’s First Real Attempt at Inclusive Development
Unlike previous programs trapped in Kampala boardrooms or donor conditions, PDM is rooted in parishes, designed by locals, and adapted to specific community needs.
Over 2.8 million Ugandans have already accessed these funds using them to start businesses in piggery, tailoring, cassava farming, boda bodas, bricklaying, and retail.
That is not theory. That is real impact.
Kyagulanyi’s proposal to scrap PDM without a viable alternative is not policy; it’s reckless populism disguised as leadership.
- Education and PDM Are Not Enemies — They Are Partners
Bobi Wine claims the money used for PDM should have gone to education.
But who says it’s either/or?
A mother cannot educate her children if she cannot afford school fees.
If PDM enables her to grow her income through a small enterprise, she can now afford those fees without relying on handouts.
You cannot eat a chalkboard. You cannot drink a textbook.
Empowerment and education must go hand in hand. Uganda needs both.
The Real Question for Kyagulanyi
If PDM is abolished tomorrow:
- What happens to the woman who just bought her first goats?
- What happens to the youth who finally started a boda boda business?
- What’s the alternative?
Silence is not a plan. Anger is not a policy. Hope is not a budget.
Let’s Not Be Fooled
Ugandans must reject shallow populism masked as vision.
True leadership is not about destroying what others built. It is about refining it, owning it, and making it work better for all.
PDM is not perfect no national program ever is.
But it is the boldest attempt we’ve made at extending economic dignity to those who have been ignored for generations.
Let’s audit it. Improve it. Scale it. Strengthen it.
Not throw it away.
The people who grow our food, raise our children, and carry this nation’s future deserve more than empty promises and catchy slogans.
They deserve real, working systems that reach them where they are.
Ronald Nabimanya is a Concerned citizen, Author and Publisher focused on development communication and African narratives. He can be accessed bishanga.ronald@gmail.com. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
