The Ugandan government has launched the “ZAIDI app,” a nationwide technological system designed to monitor the operations and effectiveness of the Parish Development Model (PDM) program.
According to Major Edmond Turyasingura, Director of Communications at the Internal Security Organization (ISO), the app aims to enhance transparency and accountability while combating sabotage and corruption during the program’s implementation.
The app, installed on the smartphones of ISO officers up to the sub-county level (Gomborora Internal Security Officers, or GISOs), enables monitoring from headquarters.
The nationwide training of GISOs and DISOs on using the app began on Thursday in the Kigezi region at the National Teachers College (NTC) Kabale Resource Centre and will extend to other regions.
GISOs are required to input details of PDM beneficiaries and upload photos to facilitate easy analysis. Turyasingura warned that any GISO failing to use the app would face consequences, including job termination. He added that only those with configured phone particulars by ISO top officials would have access to the application.
Godfrey Nyakahuma, Kabale Resident District Commissioner, and Miria Tugume Akankwasa, Kabale District Vice Chairperson, endorsed the app’s introduction, stating it would establish accurate records for all beneficiaries.
They highlighted past issues of ineligible beneficiaries, including civil servants and relatives of group chairpersons, noting that the district had recovered about 30 million shillings from such cases.
In August 2022, several officials, including Mwebesa Mujuni and former Chief Administrative Officer Edmund Ntimba, were arrested for allegedly misappropriating 289 million shillings intended for the PDM.
In September 2023, seven individuals, including Gil Andinda, Kyanamira sub-county Community Development Officer, and Sonia Ahimbisibwe, Nyakagyera parish Chief, were arrested for distributing PDM funds to relatives, civil servants, and established business owners. They were released after returning the funds.
