In March, I argued in these pages that a government which rewards the ghetto for its idleness teaches young people the wrong lesson. The moment the article came out, someone drove to Jinja, gathered ghetto youth and told them Imaka has blocked the money the President had promised. Angry at the said blocking of their money, some ghetto youth looked for me, asking what I thought the President ought to do instead.
The Parish Development Model (PDM) was meant to move households from subsistence into the money economy. The intention is right; the design is flawed. It assumes capital is the missing ingredient, and that a young person given money will become an investor. How wrong!