Farmers Hail Museveni’s Vision as NRM Treasurer Nekesa Tours Thriving PDM Projects Across Samia Bugwe

 

BUSIA, Uganda – In a powerful display of grassroots transformation, thousands of Parish Development Model (PDM) beneficiaries in Samia Bugwe, Busia District, poured out gratitude to President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni over the weekend as National Resistance Movement (NRM) National Treasurer Ambassador Barbara Nekesa Oundo conducted an intensive orientation and inspection tour of their projects.

Nekesa, on a monitoring mission across the region, visited beneficiaries in Busia Town Council, Majanji, Masafu, and Dabani, inspecting a wide range of enterprises funded through the government’s flagship poverty-eradication programme. The projects included coffee farming, matoke (banana) production, piggery, cattle rearing, fish farming, poultry, goat farming, and various small-scale businesses.

Crowds of farmers, many of them women and youth, shared stories of how the revolving PDM funds have shifted their households from subsistence to commercial production, boosting incomes and creating local employment. Several speakers described the programme as the practical realisation of President Museveni’s long-standing commitment to wealth creation at the household level.

“These funds are meant to fight poverty in our homes, not to buy things that do not grow wealth,” Nekesa told gatherings during the tour. “Use the money wisely on enterprises that will keep giving returns. That is how we honour the President’s vision and ensure every household advances.”

She oriented beneficiaries on prioritising productive investments, maintaining proper records, and working collectively through parish savings groups. Nekesa stressed that PDM money must be channelled into income-generating activities rather than non-productive spending, warning that misuse undermines the programme’s sustainability.

During the inspections, she engaged farmers on practical challenges including market access, post-harvest handling, and the need for further technical support. In coffee-growing areas, beneficiaries showcased expanding plantations that are already generating substantial returns. Livestock keepers highlighted growth in piggery, poultry, goat, and cattle enterprises, while fish farmers demonstrated ponds stocked through PDM support. Matoke growers and operators of small trading businesses also reported improved household cash flows.

Local officials noted that Busia District has reached over 19,000 PDM beneficiaries organised into more than 800 cooperative groups. The district has prioritised high-value enterprises such as coffee, dairy, beef, bananas, beans, and aquaculture under technical guidance from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries. District Production Officer Patrick Baraza previously indicated that the area has received about Shs19 billion under the programme, with the majority of funds now directed to intended uses.

Beneficiaries repeatedly thanked President Museveni for championing the Parish Development Model as a vehicle for household-level poverty eradication. Many credited the initiative with enabling them to expand production, meet family needs, and begin building lasting assets.

Nekesa’s tour reinforces the NRM’s emphasis on ensuring government programmes deliver tangible results at the village and parish levels. By combining orientation on best practices with on-the-ground inspection, the National Treasurer underscored accountability, productive utilisation of funds, and the central role of communities in driving Uganda’s socio-economic transformation.

As she concluded engagements across Busia Town Council, Majanji, Masafu, and Dabani, Nekesa left beneficiaries with a clear message: sustained success depends on wise investment, collective responsibility, and continued alignment with the President’s vision of wealth creation for every household.