By Edward Byamukama
As the disbursement of funds under the Parish Development Model gains momentum, there is an increased number of beneficiaries flocking various banks in Hoima City each day to pick up their cash, a trend that is worrying and becoming a security threat.
When our reporter visited Opportunity and Centenary Banks at 7:30am today, he found over 40 people sitting on the banks verandahs others standing waiting for the financial institutions to open so as to make transactions.
These are from Hoima, Kikuube and Kyankwanzi districts.
Now, leaders are asking the banks to decentralize these services or even wire the funds to the beneficiaries via mobile money to decongest the traffic at the banks.
According to the Chairperson LCV Kikuube district, Peter Banura, people have continued to move from Kikuube district to Hoima city to access PDM money exposing the beneficiaries to conmen.
Banura says the banks are supposed to deposit money directly on people’s mobile money accounts to avoid delays but banks have instead asked people to open up bank accounts so as to make money and increase on their clientele.
Recently, the Prime Minister Rt Hon Robinah Nabanja while in Kyankwanzi threatened to sanction financial institutions that will have failed to give pdm money to beneficiaries by the end is September 2023
Nabbanja says banks have resorted to using Government money instead of giving it to the beneficiaries.
Recently, Opportunity Bank noted that it had embarked on decentralizing the payments to parishes in Kyankwanzi district.
Efforts to get a comment from various banks were futile by the time of filing this story.
