UGANDA, Kampala | Real Muloodi News | The Parish Development Model announced by President Yoweri Museveni will launch this year. The program aims to generate employment and wealth creation, uplifting 39% of low-income households from a subsistence economy to commercial production.
Paul Zzimbe, Ward Administrator at KCCA, says The Parish Development Model (PDM) is in line with the Third National Development Plan (NDP III), whose goal is to increase household incomes and improve the quality of life of Ugandans.
The government expects to implement the PDM in Kampala. It will cover 99 wards of the city’s five divisions, and will benefit 4.5 million people that make a living in Kampala. The beneficiaries will be from the slums of Katanga, Katoogo, Namuwongo and Bwaise, who make up 60% of city dwellers.
Most of the slum dwellers, according to Zzimbe, suffer a lot of challenges such as high unemployment, inadequate drainage systems, flooding and poor infrastructure.
To help find a solution to those issues, the parish development model developed a system based on seven pillars. They include processing, marketing, infrastructure, economic services, financial inclusion, social service mindset change, and production and storage.
Zzimbe says the introduction of a revolving fund will rejuvenate the small scale businesses common in the settlements. Access to the revolving fund will make it easier for small businesses to access capital, which will, in turn, generate revenue for the government.
The key difference between PDM and previous social empowerment interventions is that the development model system will be run and owned by the local residents. For a long time, residents in the informal settlements have complained of being left out of mainstream planning. Inclusivity is paramount in the success of the model. Through Ward Development Committees, local leaders will come up with customised projects to address specific challenges faced by the people in the settlements.
Zzimbe further notes that upgrading slums has been an ongoing challenge for city administrators and local leaders because of limited finances, rapidly increasing populations, poverty, and issues with the land tenure system.
Leaders from the KCCA led by their executive director will ensure its success. The program is an excellent milestone in transforming the way of life in the informal settlements of Kampala.
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