The government has revealed plans to employ the Internal Security Organization’s (ISO) expertise as second-line managers to monitor the implementation of the Parish Development Model.
The Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury of Finance Planning and Economic Development, Ramadthan Ggoobi, revealed that the government intends to leverage operation structures of the Internal Security Organization to stamp out corruption tendencies in the implementation of the Parish Development Model.
He made the remarks during a media briefing on the State of Uganda’s economy and the budget priorities for the short and medium term at the Ministry Yesterday December 12, 2024.
‘’We have
eliminated middlemen, but ghosts are still being registered and paid PDM money.
This needs to be followed up,” he said.
Ggoobi said
that in its early stages of implementation, the program has suffered violation
by unscrupulous individuals, whose selfish conduct is threatening its relevance
and success.
In 2020,
the government implemented the Parish Development Model as the latest
livelihood improvement program, focusing on development planning and resources
at the parish level.
However,
there have been numerous reports to the ministry about corrupt district
officials working with PDM Committee leaders to register and disburse money to
ghost beneficiaries and leave out the genuine members.
According to Ggoobi, as a remedy, the Ministry has empowered ISO operatives with a newly acquired digital tool to start verifying every detail of the beneficiaries, which the parish chiefs uploaded on the centralized program’s Management Information System.
The
Internal Security Organization (ISO) is actively involved in the data capture
of beneficiaries under PDM, and it recently trained Gombolola Internal Security
Officers (GISOs) in the Kigezi region on using the Zaidi App for this purpose,
emphasizing improved data management and monitoring of government programs.
The Zaidi
App aims to enhance transparency and create a reliable database for future
government planning.
Ggoobi
revealed that the Ministry of Finance is already coordinating an
inter-ministerial committee that will regularly share information and emerging
reports about the implementation of all government wealth-creation
interventions that are implemented in the country.
ISO
operatives will play a pivotal role in the Parish Development Model (PDM) by
enhancing data collection and community mobilization efforts.
