Officials from Bukomansimbi District have decided to return over 200 million shilings that they had been pocketing under the guise of “insurance fees” from Parish Development Model (PDM) beneficiaries. This generous act of “reparations” came only after a dramatic sting operation by the PDM Secretariat.
The misadventure began when the Bukomansimbi District Production Officer, the District PMD Focal Person, and two parish chiefs decided that the PDM funds meant for the struggling masses were too tempting to resist. Their plan? To charge beneficiaries UGX 50,000 each for insurance fees—never mind that this insurance was as real as a cow in a city taxi.
Fred Pax Kalema, the Deputy Resident District Commissioner for Bukomansimbi, confirmed that the officials, now exiled to the land of “regret,” agreed to return the money before they secured their police bonds. “Since they’ve agreed to refund the money,” Kalema said with a straight face, “we’ve decided to let them return it. We believe in second chances—especially when it’s the law enforcing them.”
Kalema added that the scheme involved not only deducting unauthorized fees but also setting up an insurance company office right in the district—because nothing says “legitimate” like a shady insurance office in a rural area. The money was supposedly for “paperwork and insurance,” though some say it was just a clever way to fund an unofficial office party.
The PDM program, launched in 2022, aimed to pull the country’s 39 percent of impoverished citizens out of the economic trenches. But according to some Ugandans, particularly Opposition politicians, the scheme might end up being more about creating new avenues for corruption than alleviating poverty.
The Bukomansimbi scandal came to light last Wednesday when a team from the PDM Secretariat raided the district headquarters. The resulting operation was like a reality TV show—complete with arrests of two district officials and two parish chiefs for allegedly turning PDM money into their own personal slush fund.
In a particularly theatrical subplot, the Bigasa Sub-county parish chief was found demanding 150,000 shillings from each beneficiary, only to pocket 100,000 shillings and claim the remaining 50,000 shillings was for insurance—because, apparently, a parish chief needs a hefty “insurance” bonus.
One beneficiary, Paul Kagimu, expressed his suprise: “We were told we’d get 1 million shillings, but instead, we received less, with some of it claimed to be for paperwork and insurance. It was like expecting a full plate of Matooke and getting a half-empty bowl instead.”
The PDM program, funded with a generous UGX 1 trillion budget, is supposed to uplift the nation’s poorest by providing Shs100 million to each parish, with the aim of giving every household Shs1 million to kickstart projects. In theory, it sounds like a perfect recipe for success. In practice, it sometimes looks like a recipe for disaster—with Bukomansimbi being the latest proof. Critics are now rightly questioning if the program will truly combat poverty or just enrich a few. Bukomansimbi alone received UGX 3.5 billion to be distributed across its 37 parishes. Given the recent revelations, it appears that some of this money might have been enjoying an unplanned vacation in the pockets of corrupt officials rather than reaching those in need.
The people of Bukomansimbi will have to wait and see if their funds are returned with the same enthusiasm that their officials originally “acquired” them.
