Kapelebyong district authorities have intensified conducting meetings with board executives of SACCOS of Parish Development Model (PDM) SACCOS in a bid to streamline operations.

The meetings engineered by the Office of the Resident District Commissioner (RDC) together with the District Intelligence Security Officer, are being undertaken in all sub counties, following reports of mismanagement of Parish Development Model implementation by SACCO leaders in some parishes.

In these meetings, verification of PDM beneficiaries is conducted and community members are given the opportunity to raise any issues which could be affecting the implementation of PDM in their localities.

“The purpose of this initiative is intended to strengthen the functionality of the SACCO boards inline with the available PDM guidelines. We also want to address cases of extortion of money from beneficiaries,” Emmy Ojirot, the deputy RDC said.

He called for cooperation among different set systems in the implementation of PDM for the attainment of the desired social economic transformation in the country, while warning to handle perpetrators of corruption within the domains of the law.

Since the inauguration of these meetings, a number of communities have pointed red light to their SACCO leaders with some blaming them for being discriminated against in the selection of beneficiaries, extortion of funds and delayed processing of monies. Addressing these issues is seen as a yardstick of transparency and accountability.

Kapelebyong district received shs5.5billion under Parish Development Model in the Financial Year 2023/2024.

The parish development model is a government strategy focused on elevating the active poor from subsistence to money economy. Each selected beneficiary receives a loan of one million shillings to be paid back to the SACCO by the third year of using it.

The management of these funds is trusted on SACCO boards in each parish and the Parish development committee (PDC) is charged with the oversight responsibility.

By Emmanuel Opio

Communication Officer

Kapelebyong District