Col Emmy Katabazi, the Deputy Director General of the Internal Security Organization (ISO), has implored the Christians of Immaculate Heart Rubanda Parish, a Catholic church in Kabale Diocese, and the surrounding areas to utilize the Parish Development Model (PDM) funds to eradicate poverty and boost socio-economic transformation.
Immaculate Heart Rubanda Parish was on July 2, 2024, having a Thanksgiving mass for the priestly ordination of Fr. Philemon Byomuhagi, who was ordained together with the other three priests on June 30, 2024, at Good Shepherd Rushoroza Catholic Church, Kabale Diocese, Kabale district.
Col Katabazi cautioned the PDM beneficiaries and those intending to receive the funds against misusing the funds but instead utilizing and engaging them in productive activities that will alleviate their poverty.
He noted that ISO developed a system in the form of an application to help beneficiaries access their money easily.
The Colonel revealed to the gathering that the Internal Security Officers (GISOs) will reach the beneficiaries to capture their information, which will be inserted in the system for easy monitoring.
He explained that each beneficiary is meant to get Ugx 1 million, and at the end of five years, each parish will have received Ugx 500 million.
“The President said that each person with the parish will get Ugx 1 million and each parish will be given Ugx 100 million annually, and in five years, each parish will have Ugx 500 million,” Col Katabazi noted.
The Deputy Director General further stressed that those who misuse the money given to them will face the law.
“For those who got the Parish Development Model money and misused it, you will be dealt with; you will have to pay it back. That money is meant to get you out of poverty,” he said.
The Speaker of Rubanda, Mary Waguma, urged the congregation to support government programs to improve their lives economically.
She noted that the district is planning to construct roads in the area to ease transport.
Waguma further said that the government has improved the education sector through the construction of Seed schools in the area.
Msgr. John Vianney Sunday, the Vicar General of Kabale Diocese, during his sermon, asked congregants to love one another as reflected in the gospel according to St. John 15:9.
He described Rev. Fr. Byomuhangi as a humble priest whom God chose for a purpose.
“God chose you for a purpose. When God chooses you, he does so so that you go and preach the gospel. When chosen, you say, God, I am here. Send me,” the Vicar General said.
The Vicar General encouraged Fr. Byomuhagi to trust God and make him his guide in his spiritual life and his work as a priest.
“You are chosen to be in the place of Jesus so as to sanctify the community of the faithful or believers by offering sacraments and leading mass as an obligation,” he noted.
He further implored Fr. Byomuhagi to listen to God and his calling through the sacrament of the Eucharist.
“There are those who have not just gone astray but intended to go astray. So, listen to the voice of God and follow it for people to turn to God,” Vicar Sunday said.
In attendance were Reverend Fathers from Rubanda, Kabale, Kampala, Nairobi, Mexico, and France, among others; Sisters from Our Lady Fatuma and Our Lady of Good Counsel; Chief Magistrate of Rukungiri; Speaker of Rubanda; parents; Immaculate Heart Nursery and Primary School-Rubanda pupils; students; and other Christians.
