By Elijah Khisa
Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has cautioned Resident City Commissioners (RCCs), Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) and parish chiefs against interfering in the implementation of the Parish Development Model (PDM), saying they lack the legal mandate to control the programme’s activities.
The warning was issued on October 13, 2026, during a sensitisation workshop organised by KCCA headquarters for Local Council I and II leaders to discuss the implementation of PDM activities.
The daylong workshop aimed to involve local council leaders in Kawempe Division in mobilising beneficiaries and monitoring the implementation of the government programme in their respective parishes and zones.
The Kawempe South Member of Parliament, Nsereko Madinah, officially opened the workshop, which was attended by more than 100 Local Council I and II chairpersons from the division.
Nsereko said local council leaders were being brought on board to support the government in mobilising potential beneficiaries and ensuring they comply with the guidelines governing the programme.
She noted that PDM parish councils are responsible for ensuring that every registered and vetted household receives Shs1 million to invest in a selected enterprise at a legally authorised location.
During the meeting, several local leaders raised concerns over alleged interference by RCCs and parish chiefs in PDM activities, particularly in the selection of beneficiaries and the disbursement of funds.
The leaders argued that such interference undermines established procedures and compromises the programme’s implementation.
Kibazo Abbas, the PDM supervisor at KCCA, said beneficiaries who had accessed the funds were required to repay them to allow other eligible households to benefit.
He warned that those who default on their repayment obligations risk prosecution.
Kibazo added that the government had deployed operatives from the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) to help track down defaulters and recover the funds, using national identification numbers to identify and trace the individuals involved.
He reiterated that parish chiefs, RDCs and RCCs were not authorised to interfere in PDM operations, urging them to allow parish PDM councils to exercise their mandate.
He said the parish councils must ensure that beneficiaries invest the funds in designated enterprises and that all services under the programme remain free of charge.
Meanwhile, Lawrence Mayambala, KCCA’s senior supervisor for political affairs, described local council leaders as an important link in the implementation and monitoring of government programmes at the community level.
Mayambala said local council leaders have legislative responsibilities, including initiating and passing by-laws to govern their respective communities, as well as executive responsibilities to monitor government projects and programmes.
He added that local councils have the authority to direct parish PDM councils to publicly display information about beneficiaries, including their names and villages of residence, to promote transparency and accountability.
Responding to concerns that some parish councils had failed to recover funds from wives of security officers who had been transferred to new duty stations, Mayambala advised the leaders to document the officers’ service numbers to facilitate their identification and tracing.
He said the information could help the relevant authorities follow up on the outstanding funds and support recovery efforts.
