Officials from the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance have outlined the progress made in the development and rollout of the Parish Development Model Information System (PDMIS), highlighting the system’s role in supporting implementation of the Parish Development Model (PDM).
This followed concerns raised during a sitting of the Public Accounts Committee (Central), where legislators emphasized the importance of timely deployment of the monitoring platform to strengthen oversight of the programme.
Appearing before the committee, Senior ICT Infrastructure Engineer Peter Ogule explained that the PDM Information System was designed as a modular digital platform to support registration of beneficiaries, tracking of funds and monitoring of programme outcomes at the grassroots level.
Ogule said once fully completed, the system will consist of six modules, each designed to support a specific component of the programme. According to him, four of the six modules have already been fully developed, including Household Registration, Financial Inclusion, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Citizen Participation and Interaction.
He noted that two modules — Household Registration and Financial Inclusion — have already been fully rolled out across all villages, parishes and districts in Uganda.
The two modules have enabled the registration of more than 26 million Ugandans and supported the disbursement and tracking of Parish Development Model funds directly to households.
Through the system, government has so far disbursed over Shs3.5 trillion under the Parish Revolving Fund, with the platform supporting the tracking of funds to enhance transparency and accountability in the programme.
Ogule also told the committee that the Monitoring and Evaluation module, which is designed to measure key indicators under the programme, has already been partially rolled out in the Acholi and Bunyoro sub-regions.
However, he explained that the full national rollout of the module has been affected by a funding gap, which has been communicated to the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
Members of the committee, including Deputy Chairperson Goreth Namugga, stressed the importance of having the monitoring system fully operational to ensure effective tracking of funds and programme outcomes across the country.
The Parish Development Model is a government strategy aimed at transforming subsistence households into participants in the money economy by bringing services and financing closer to communities. The programme uses the parish as the lowest planning and implementation unit, ensuring development interventions directly reach communities.
Under the initiative, each parish receives Shs100 million annually through the Parish Revolving Fund to support income-generating activities such as agriculture, livestock farming, fisheries, small-scale trade and agro-processing.
Through the programme, thousands of community groups and households have accessed financial support to start or expand businesses and farming activities. The digital PDM Information System has also helped government register millions of citizens and improve transparency in the distribution of funds.
Officials say the programme has contributed to greater financial inclusion, improved access to capital for rural households and increased participation of communities in economic activities, strengthening local economies in many parts of Uganda.
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