Parish Development Model is pure nonsense – Mathias Mpuuga

The Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Uganda’s Parliament, Mathias Mpuuga, has described as ‘nonsense’ the regime’s much-cherished poverty alleviation program codenamed the Parish Development Model (PDM).

Mpuuga, while presenting this year’s Alternative Budget for 2023/2024 at Parliament, stated that in their government, they would scrap PDM and use that money in priority areas like agriculture.

This money would best be used for irrigation and increase access to farm inputs and disease control, he said.

Mpuuga said he was presenting to the country an alternative budget with priorities and a shift in the way national resources are managed.

A Human Rights approach to budgeting is what we are proposing, he said.

Regarding the inflation in the country, Mpuuga said that they contend that the bulk of inflation is imported because Uganda is a net importer of petroleum products.

“We must deal with this inflation holistically; firstly, by enhancing production. We know for a fact that inflation in Uganda is a double-digit for the last more than two years and it is partly because we are unable to fathom how to deal with it,”

He explained that one of the shocks in Uganda is that the government is trying to deal with inflation but has never informed the country of the type of inflation they are dealing with. He said this is structural inflation.

The opposition’s Alternative Budget 2023/2024 has been presented under the theme “Focusing on Rethinking Uganda’s Economy; A Human Rights Approach to Resource Allocation.”

Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, the leader of NUP said the Alternative Budget isn’t just a collection of figures and numbers but a reflection of the values the party holds so dear.

“We must ensure that everyone has access to resources that they need to succeed in life and this means investing in social protection programs,” he said.