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AUDIT REPORT: Sh1.5 billion of Parish Revolving Fund cannot be traced

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Auditor General, Edward Akol has revealed that 212 Parish Development Model (PDM) SACCOS in 14 Local Governments cannot account for Parish Revolving Fund –PRF to the tune of sh1.544 billion received and withdrawn from their bank accounts.

According to Akol, the amount had not been disbursed to households by the time of his audit.  He also noted the multiple loan approvals and payments amounting to sh896 million were made to 902 individuals who had duplicate National Identification Numbers (NIN), same names or same phone numbers.

“A total of 342 beneficiaries in 253 PDM SACCOs in 50 Local Governments have implemented ineligible projects. A total of 170 beneficiaries in 124 PDM SACCOs in 37 Local Governments have non-existent projects. A total of 1,004 beneficiaries who received PRF of 1 billion Shillings did not account for funds received in terms of support documentation,” Akol reported.

The Auditor General further revealed that a total of 2,985 SACCOS in 127 Local Governments did not have registered offices on their documents while a total of 567 SACCOs in 41 Local Governments registered offices did not exist.

The Auditor General on Wednesday presented his annual report to Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa. He said that he has unearthed endless irregularities in the implementation, and management of funds under PDM in the last financial year.

The Implementation of the Parish Development Model (PDM) formed part of the four thematic audits that the new Auditor General undertook in the financial year 2023/2024 in a bid to enhance transparency, accountability, and service delivery.

“Parliament appropriated 1.1 trillion Shillings for this program, with 1.06 trillion specifically allocated for the Parish Revolving Fund to finance 10,594 PDM SACCOS. Whereas a lot has been achieved in implementing the program, certain gaps still exist; the household data collection stands at 79.9 percent, with population registration at just 46.3 percent, lack of registered offices, implementation of ineligible projects, lack of accountability in certain instances, non-existent projects among others,” said Akol.

Parliament in the financial year 2023/2024 appropriated 1.1 trillion Shillings for the Parish Development Model program, of which, 1.06 billion was for the Parish Revolving Fund to financial 10,594 PDM SACCOs in 176 Local Governments and Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).

Each SACCO is supposed to receive 100 million Shillings in a financial year to develop and implement viable community-led income-generating enterprises. In addition, a sum of 38.233 billion was appropriated to specific entities to support the implementation of the program.

In the report, the Auditor General noted that all the approved 1.06 billion for PRF for disbursement to the planned 10,594 PDM SACCOs was realized and that enterprise trainings by local subject matter specialists or experts were carried out for most of the SACCOs.

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