PAC summons PDM Secretariat over sh5.75b unaccounted funds
Official records indicate that during the year under review, Parliament appropriated sh1.112 trillion for the PDM, including sh12.32 billion allocated for administrative costs under the Ministry of Local Government.
Butambala County MP, Muhamad Muwanga Kivumbi, the Chairperson of PAC Central government chairs a meeting on 22 May 2025 at Parliament. (Photos by Miriam Namutebi)
Dedan Kimathi
Journalist @New Vision
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The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is scheduled to meet with the Parish Development Model (PDM) Secretariat on May 27, 2025, to address unresolved issues.
Butambala County MP, Muhamad Muwanga Kivumbi, who chaired the session on Thursday, May 22, 2025, issued the directive during a meeting with Ministry of Local Government officials led by permanent secretary Ben Kumumanya.
Ben Kumumanya, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Local Government appearing before the PAC Central Government committee on 22 May 2025. 
The instruction followed discussions on Auditor General (AG) Edward Akol’s December 2024 report, which highlighted that PDM activities worth sh5.75 billion, though planned and fully funded, were not fully implemented.
“The coordinator or head of the secretariat of PDM, with the entire PDM secretariat, should be here on Tuesday. I’ve called a meeting earlier because we have other meetings. For one hour, they must answer for this. This is unacceptable by any stretch of imagination,” Muwanga ordered.
Allocations
Official records indicate that during the year under review, Parliament appropriated sh1.112 trillion for the PDM, including sh12.32 billion allocated for administrative costs under the Ministry of Local Government.
However, in his findings, Akol noted that there was no evidence that the National Planning Committee (NPC), chaired by President Yoweri Museveni, had convened as required.
According to Paragraph 2.1 of the Governance and Administration Pillar Operations Manual of February 2022, the NPC is mandated to provide overall policy direction, oversee the programme’s implementation, and ensure alignment with the National Development Plan (NDP III) and the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Manifesto.
Although the committee is expected to meet at least once every quarter, records indicate that no such meetings have taken place.
“When they say it is chaired by the president, the president can delegate. And say it doesn't mean that he himself chairs it. He can say prime minister, minister of local government, blah, blah, blah, do it on my behalf, but ensure it sits. The auditor did not see any resolution, any meeting you are convening for this. But you are busy there,” Muwanga mused.
In response, Kumumanya disagreed with the auditor's qualified opinion, stating that several meetings chaired by Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja had been held, and records were available to prove it.
“I would want to appeal to look at the practical considerations. First and foremost, we have reported that the prime minister has chaired various meetings on PDM,” he stated.
“Two, we have gone to cabinet, which is chaired by the president several times and we have extracts as evidence. But three, his excellency president is in the field on PDM. So, to demand that he should have first-chaired NPC. What if we look at it from this angle? That you would convene NPC after he has come back from the presidential PDM,” Kumumanya added.