Youth Council Wants 35 percent of Parish Model Funds Allocated to Youth Programs

The National Youth Council (NYC) leaders are demanding 35 percent of Parish Model Funds be demarcated for the youth in their respective parishes.

The NYC chairperson Jacob Eyeru, speaking to the press at the NYC headquarters in Ntinda, Kampala, said Youth programs like the Youth Livelihood Funds and Youth Venture Capital Fund have been sacrificed for the parish model and youth shall be marginalized if their quota is not known and identified.

Eyeru demanded that UGX 35million shillings out of the UGX 100million per parish financing of the parish model be demarcated for various youth projects at each Parish.

“We demand that 35 percent of Parish Model Funds be demarcated for the youth in respective parishes, for avoidance of Doubt, that translates to UGX 35million shillings for youth projects at each Parish with 100 million per parish financing of the Model,” Eyeru said.

The Parish Model is the latest attempt by the government to roll out at the parish level to alleviate poverty at the grassroots by getting the 39 percent of households from subsistence economy to commercial production.

The model seeks to have all development activities regarding agriculture production planned and executed in parishes.

Eyeru says as the NYC, they have received reports that some leaders are taking advantage of the lack of knowledge of some youth leaders at parishes to misguide them on the Parish Model Funds.

“We have received reports that in some areas, local council chairpersons are denying legitimate youth council chairpersons’ attendance in meetings on preference of illegitimate representatives,” Eyeru said.

He says for purposes of effectiveness, transparency and good publicity of the parish model, youth leaders be engaged through the National Youth Council to undertake mindset change programs for the youth and monitor Parish model for at least three years.

Parish Model
In the current financial year 2021/2022, parliament appropriated only 200 Billion Shillings towards the new model.

Full implementation of the model is scheduled to start in October.

Recently president Museveni demanded that 100 million shillings are allocated for each of the 10,694 parishes across the country per year so that the desired output is achieved.

If implemented, this directive would see the budget for the Parish Model increase in the coming financial year 2022/2023 to 1.0694 trillion.

The current budgetary allocation can only see 14.5 million Shillings allocated to each parish.

According to a ministerial statement presented to Parliament, starting Financial Year 2022/2023, the amount of funds to be allocated to the parishes will be determined basing on the share of households in the subsistence economy and the poverty levels in the district.

Special groups like women, youth and persons with disabilities (PWDs) will be given priority.